


I want a new drug

by Michaelssw0rd



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Barista Merlin, Doctor Arthur, Fluff, M/M, Romance, but also Student Merlin, ridiculous amount of frustrations of a doctor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-22
Updated: 2015-11-16
Packaged: 2018-04-16 14:42:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 31,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4629081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Michaelssw0rd/pseuds/Michaelssw0rd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You are not Gwen", his tone was rude, and he knew it, but he had a right to be that way when even the one thing he was sure would go right, didn't.<br/>"Yeah! What gave it away?" It's the mischief in the voice that made Arthur pause and actually look.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Translated into [Russian](https://ficbook.net/readfic/5290392) by [ElenaE](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ElenaE/pseuds/ElenaE)

"Okay! Just to be sure, I am going to repeat everything you told me one more time," Arthur articulated, forcing his face to be a mask of politeness he didn't feel.

"So you know your son has pneumonia, correct?"

"Yes doctor, we already told you he has been coughing for the last week or so," the mother,Mrs. Alined replied,clearly exasperated.

"But you won't let me treat him?" Arthur continued.

"What! No!" It was the father this time, Mr. Alined, offended at what Arthur seemed to be insinuating. "He is our son, of course we want him to be treated"

"But not with antibiotics he so clearly needs?", he knew a vein in his temple was throbbing but at least his voice had not risen yet; if anything, it had become a threatening whisper.

"Yes of course." The mother apparently could not see all the warning signs Arthur's demeanor was showing despite his best efforts, "Antibiotics hinder growth. We have done our research, don't think we haven't. My cousin Margret's son Simon was treated with antibiotics when he was our son's age and he was always the midget of our family. He never could gain height poor lad, always made fun of. We don't want our William to go through that."

"Just give him some cough syrup and something for the fever, my boy is strong, he will beat the bacteria himself!" Mr. Alined actually looked at William- who was weak, pale, coughing, and just a step away from collapsing where he was sitting- with pride.

"This Simon, was it?" Arthur waited for them to nod. "He is alive,isn't he?"

"Um, yes?"

"That is more you would be able to say about your son in a few days  _if you don't let me treat him_!"

Arthur's voice was rising without any conscious thought and he didn't even bother correcting his tone, because to hell with being polite to his patients. These weren't his patients. His patient was dying because his parents were too afraid their son might not grow tall enough!

"You have got two choices. One, you agree to the fact that I am going to call the nurses, admit him, and treat him here , away from the two of you, till he gets better. Second, you don't agree to it, I do it anyway, and call child protective services."

After making his point, in the least threatening way that he could manage, he waited for them to make up their mind. He was not going to let the boy die, no matter what his parents decided, but the dumbstruck look of horror on their face let him know that he wasn't as calm as he wished he was.

* * *

Hospitals, are generally despised. They are cold, sterile, and the very air in them smell of disease and decay. You don't go inside one if you can help it, and you either don't come out at all, or you come out worse for wear; death is an undeniable reality inside a hospital, and nobody ever likes to be acquainted with the truth... the truth that sooner or later, death is coming for them too. You can pretend to be as immortal and untouchable as you want in life. Inside of a hospital, you are human. Humans are vulnerable. So yeah, everyone usually instinctively hate hospitals.

Not Arthur though.

For Arthur, hospitals meant home. The clean bare walls, the scratchy linen, the antiseptic smell, were the only place he had ever felt he belonged. His father, who was a physician, completely drowned himself in aches and pains of other people after the love of his life passed away, and never looked twice at his son again. Instead, he always brought him to the hospital and let him wander, and for that Arthur would always be grateful. Sick people, and their visitors-he discovered when he was just a child and starving for affection- were sometimes the nicest people around. They always smiled at him, talked to him,  even let him climb up on bed and share their food, and looked at him with kindness that nobody else ever did;  and when they got better, the happiness of people around them was contagious. Of course they did not always get better, but mostly, even in death, nobody was alone in the hospital. Somehow, even as a child, Arthur found solace in that fact, in not being alone.

Hospitals also gave him his best- and maybe his only- friend in life: Gwaine. When he was seven, he had taken to wandering around the children's ward, trying to make friends. Most of the children didn't like him, because he was always quiet.They mistook his shyness for pride, but he just did not know how to talk to people. So he would just sit in nurses' corner and stare forlornly at all the parents doting over their children, and feel an empty ache inside his chest that he didn't yet know what to call. Over the years he would learn that it was loneliness, and no, it did not get better with time.

It continued like this for months, until one day, another boy slid beside him.

"Are you a girl?" he had asked.

"No!" Arthur had looked at his clothes in alarm and then his face in the glass in front of the nurses counter. He had not miraculously changed gender in the last few hours. He turned and looked accusingly at the other boy.

"With your hair, I couldn't really tell! Blondie." The kid was laughing at him. Laughing at somebody was not nice, it was something only rude people did, but Arthur couldn't bring himself to hate the boy.

"You are mean."

"No I am Gwaine." He held out his hand, "Nice to meet you! Wanna be friends?"

It was the first time someone had extended a hand of friendship towards him, and as he shook it, he swore he wouldn't let it go.He never did.

So it was no surprise when he grew up to become a doctor. It was even less surprising he chose his specialty as pediatrics. Most days, Arthur loved his job. He loved children. The brightly painted walls of the ward, the cartoons smiling around him, felt more like home than his apartment ever did. Watching children come in, sick, and then leaving with bright smiles and better health felt like the biggest accomplishment there could be. He would never forget the first time he was thanked by parents, of a child with just gastroenteritis, that he had treated: their Thank You, hushed and reverent and full of almost worshipful gratitude, felt like too heavy a burden to carry. He had not been able to reply, his throat closed up and his eyes stung. He had just shaken their hand and nodded. The gratitude, even though always unnecessary-because saving lives was his _job_ \- was never unwelcome, never got old, and never failed to fill his heart with warmth.

But then there were days like this one. On days like this one, Arthur HATED his job.

* * *

After dealing with the Alineds, Arthur called the nurses and told them to admit the boy, and waited. He knew they would most definitely file a complaint against him- they were that sort, money does not allow anyone to raise their voice against it- and Uther, being the Dean of the hospital, and his father, would call him as soon as he could. He did so love to scream at his son, whatever the reason.

Arthur busied himself in patients, and he had just said goodbye to the third one, when there was a knock on his door.

"Doctor, Doctor Pendragon called for you," the clerk told him.

Steeling himself, he nodded, and got up from his chair. Outside his office, there were still 5 families sitting, waiting their turn. He turned to Freya- the miracle worker, the one who kept his life in line, and made sure he was alive at the end of the day- and told her he would be back soon.

Uther's office, was exactly like any other office in the hospital, if you take away the fact that it was bigger, had a glass wall, and the most expensive-also the least comfortable-furniture in the place. Uther was standing in front of the said glass wall, with his back towards Arthur.

"Sit down", he said, without turning around.

"I still have patients waiting Father, I would rather stand." Defiance was never the right way to deal with Uther, but right now, he didn't care.

"What have I told you about dealing with your patients." Uther turned around, disapproval dripping from your voice.

"To treat them to the best of my abilities?"

"Your abilities won't mean anything, if you never get a patient, because of your... attitude." He made a face like he had swallowed something nasty. "Being a doctor is like any other business, you give your customers what they want."

"What they wanted, was their son to  _die_ "

"So then you LET HIM! It's their choice. You explain the consequences, get the form signed stating they are doing it against doctor's advice, and let them have what they want. Treatment, is the patient's choice!"

"They weren't my patients, their child was," Arthur mumbled. Uther ignored it.

"Apologize to them," he said, in a tone that broke no arguments, so Arthur didn't bother voicing any.

"Yes! Doctor Pendragon."

"You can leave now. Be more careful next time".

Arthur left, fuming. He went back to his office, finished his patients for the day. Then went to the ward, did a quick round and checked on his patients. Realizing he couldn't delay it any longer and it was better to just get it over with, he went to the Alineds and apologized. They didn't even care for what he said, their noses held high, haughty and proud, but they wanted to hear s an apology, and they did. Their egos were soothed, which was the fucking point.

When it was finally time for lunch, Arthur couldn't bear to be in hospital any longer, so he left the building instead of heading to the cafe, and took out his phone. Gwaine! The poor dear was always ready to listen to Arthur whining.

"Hello Princess, what atrocities did His Highness Uther Pendragon commit on your person this time." He picked up the phone on second ring. So maybe thinking of Gwaine as a 'poor dear' even inside his head was a mistake.

"Can't I just be having a remarkably wonderful day and not wanting to jinx it, call you, to make the one bad thing to happen today be on my terms?"

"We both know my voice just makes every day better and not worse, and no, it's the Lunch Break Call. With the capital letters. There are casual calls and then there are Lunch Break Calls. So spill"

And Arthur did. He voiced all of this anger and frustration at the unfairness of his father and the stupidity of the parents, while wandering aimlessly on the sidewalk. By the time he was finished he was already feeling better, and it didn't feel like all the blood rushing into his head would cause him a stroke or something.

"I just don't know why such people even bother having kids, when they aren't going to do a damn thing to keep them alive." He knew his voice had lost all the anger and adrenaline. Now he just felt tired.

"Hey Arthur," Gwaine's tone made him pause; he never called him Arthur unless he meant something serious. "The kid will be alright, right? He will live?"

"Yeah he will. Of course. I will make sure of it"

"Then wasn't it worth it?"

"Yeah! Yeah it was." Arthur hadn't thought of it like that, and he could feel a smile creeping up on his face. Screw it! The frustration and the embarrassment and the sheer stupidity of being made to apologize to those asshole parents was totally worth it. His job was saving lives, and he had managed to do so.

"So now quit your whining and go get your coffee." The call cut off before he could reply.

 _Oh!_  He was already almost standing in front of Albion. He didn't even know his feet were taking him there. It was pretty much the best thing that had happened to him all day. Gwen, bless her, would make him coffee and the world would feel right again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I am a medical student (or more like a very very recently made doctor) if you couldn't tell by how I wrote Arthur. I feel the way he does more often than not. I hope its not boring to read. I tried to not make it seem boring.  
> Also...sorry for no Merlin in this chapter. He is in the next one. I promise.  
> I am starting to post this because maybe people reading it would actually make me keep writing, cause I have a plan and I wanna see how it would look in the end but I end up giving up very often.  
> PLEASE comment.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They meet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I thought about how Albion is gonna look i couldn't stop imagining devonian gardens of Calgary i just recently visited. I had coffee sitting there and it was magical. I didn't describe it quite the same way or anything but if anyone wants to know what I was imagining, just google them :D.

Albion was  _his_ coffee shop. He discovered it quite by accident, a couple of weeks after joining Camelot International as a resident. He was coming back from his shift when it started pouring, and craving coffee in the cold he ducked inside the first shop he found. There were plenty of cafe's around the hospital, even Starbucks was pretty close to the place, but despite the fact Albion was quite a walking distance away , and even though most days Arthur drank the horrible coffee of the hospital, not having enough time to go out for anything, and on other days he preferred to send Freya to get him some good coffee from some place nearby... Albion was for bad days. He never sent anyone there; he was weirdly possessive of the place. Anyway, the coffee was half the reason for the magic anyway.

The place was small, but unlike most of the coffee shops, it didn't have dark and dim appearance. It was always brightly illuminated, had huge wall length windows that almost never had blinds closed around them.On the back wall there was a mural of a forest and a part of a lake, and there were many leafy potted plants spread around the shop. The chairs were not those revolving plastic monstrosities that were in fashion everywhere, no, Albion had, what would look like wooden benches-well cushioned though, and very comfortable- the tables were round and the top looked like a piece of old trees, together with the tree age lines and the irregular edges. There was never any weird music playing, but mostly some soundtrack of falling water and birds and winds and stuff...  _where did someone even find these tracks!_

When you entered Albion, it felt like you entered a meadow, some sort of alternate dimension where you couldn't help but feel calm.

Arthur let out a sigh, as he felt the rest of the tension seep out of him as he advanced towards the counter, looking forward to harmlessly flirting with Gwen - he was gay as a rainbow, and Gwen knew that, but she always indulged him and blushed and smiled so pretty! It always made him feel a little wistful because it would be so nice to feel something more for Gwen, to fall in love with her, to be more than just friends. Not that he could even call her his friend. He didn't have many of those, but Gwen was almost as close as it got. She was nice.

Lost in his thoughts he approached the counter. The first thing he registered was ...  _not Gwen_! After the day he had had, he didn't really care much for details.

"You are not Gwen", his tone was rude, and he knew it, but he had a right to be that way when even the one thing he was sure would go right...didn't.

"Yeah! What gave it away?" It was the mischief in the voice that made Arthur pause and actually look.

The boy was tall and lanky, bordering on being malnourished, but that maybe because of the incredibly ill fitting clothes he was wearing. And the muffler... who the hell wore mufflers these days. Before he could get too stuck on appallingly bad clothing sense the kid seems to possess, he raised his eyes and  _damn_.

He was in trouble.

The red lips, smiling, teasing, taunting, were an open challenge to anyone and screamed,  _yeah! Resist kissing me! I dare you._  The cheekbones, Arthur's mind refused to even dwell on because of some innate self preservation instinct, but also because he caught a glimpse of those eyes, and then couldn't move his gaze.

Blue. Brilliant. And twinkling with mirth.

The guy waved his hand in front of his face and that's when he registered he had been staring for...well, quite a while now.

"Excuse me, are you going to order something or keep being amazed by my incredibly good looks?"

"You really are not Gwen." His mind had apparently short circuited and he couldn't process new thoughts.

"Yeah! I really am not. I am sure I would've noticed it sometime in the last 2 dozen years if I was."

"Should've known! She has so much better fashion sense." Arthur composed himself and summoned the haughtiest tones he could  manage, "and she brushes her hair."

The smile slipped a little off of his face, and Arthur mentally kicked himself. He really was not having a good day or doing himself any favors today.

"Yeah well, she is a beauty but she isn't here today so I will be serving you. May I know what you will have?" The tone was all business now, and Arthur missed the teasing tone already, even though he had never heard it until just a few minutes ago.

"You may!"

"Thank you Sir. What would it be?" The sir sounded suspiciously like  _Sire_ , which Arthur was sure was deliberate.  
"A Café mélange", he said, scanning the menu above, and because his stomach was going to complain about missing lunch, "and a lemon tart". He looked at the watch, shit! He was also going to be late. "To go." He added, regretfully.

"Ah, makes sense." Blue Eyes said while turning around to make coffee.

"What's that supposed to mean."

He didn't answer, and instead busied himself in taking out the to-go cup and using a machine that looked too complicated for a simple coffee to Arthur, and he kind of lost the track of time while following the movements of those thin hands and beautiful pale wrists.

"Your name Sir?" The Sir still sounded like Sire, but it wasn't like he could call him out on it.

"Arthur Pendragon"

Arthur could swear he heard a snort, muffled by the scratching of pen.

"What did you mean before... when you said makes sense?"

"Do you know, after working in cafe's for so long, I have realized that the drink almost always resembles the person?"

When Arthur continued to stare blankly, he elaborated.

"Pretty, white and bright exterior, covering a dark and bitter core? Rings any bells?"

 The teasing tone was back, and Arthur was too pleased to hear it to even feel insulted. Before he could get over the indignation and reply though, he slipped the drink and a paper bag  in front of him.

"That would be $6.50."

"Thank you umm..."  _(don't call him Blue Eyes, no Gorgeous is not an option either, nor is Darling! Damn it!)_  "not Gwen?"Arthur said, grabbing the coffee, and taking out his wallet to pay. He was gratified to hear a small chuckle.

"Merlin!" He extended his hand for a handshake, after taking the money, and laughed again at the climbing eyebrows on Arthur's face.

"Let's leave some insults for next time shall we? Now move, there is another customer behind you." Blue Eyes...  _Merlin_ , verbally shooed him away from the counter.

Arthur glanced at his watch again, and realized he better hurry or else he would probably have to deal with another visit to his father's office. Stealing one last glance back at Merlin, who was now dealing with an old lady, with a polite - but not teasing, not the one he gave  _him_!- smile on his face, and left the shop. He couldn't help the groan he involuntarily voiced when he took the first sip of the coffee; he always thought nobody could beat Gwen's coffee... apparently he was wrong.

He was almost at the hospital when he glanced at the writing on the cup. Merlin had scribbled his name on it, and normally he wouldn't have looked twice at it but he could grudgingly admit that everything about Merlin suddenly seemed remarkably interesting to him, he actually found himself looking at the handwriting. It was messy, just like his hair, scrawny, the letters too tall, too stretched- very Merlin.

That's when he noticed.

His cup said  _Arthur Pratdragon_.

Arthur could hardly control his sudden burst of laughter, attracting few curious looks from the passersby, any more than he could stop the heady rush of... something... he felt towards that snarky idiot in front of whom he had just made a fool of himself.

He had never felt so good at being insulted before.

If Freya looked at him funny the rest of the day, and Morgana commented on his smile saying "Please don't subject the world to it, it's creepy. For the love of God stop smiling or move away from here", oh well! The coffee had been wonderful after all. 


	3. Chapter 3

A full week, down to the very hour, later, Arthur did something he had never done before : he went down to Albion on a perfectly good day! He had not had any frustrating patients, no call to his father's office, his car worked, he wasn't sick and it wasn't his mother's death anniversary. All in all, it was a perfectly normal day, and yet, come lunch time , he found himself extremely antsy and restless, and had no choice but to follow the siren call of the best coffee in the city... and of those gorgeous challenging eyes, about which he had been not thinking about about all week. Thank you very much.

After checking himself out on the window of the shop : no vomit stains, no blood spots, no marker writings _on_ his face- he looked presentable enough- he entered Albion after taking a deep calming breath, and was promptly disappointed.

On the counter, stood Gwen.

Her hair were in disarray, as usual, and she kept pushing the wayward wisps behind her ear as she talked to a customer. She had her harried but really kind smile on her face, and was wearing top in a very nice shade of red . She was beautiful. Arthur had never despised anything so much in his life.

Before he could make up his mind and turn around, leaving before coffee, because that was not why he was here dammit, Gwen looked up and her smile brightened.

"Arthur," she waved at him, "come over, I would be just a moment".

_It was not Gwen's fault that she was not Merlin_ , he scolded himself, and plastered a smile on his face while moving towards her.

"Yeah okay! You want your usual Arthur?" She asked, once the queue in front of him finished.

The idea of someone else making him Cafe Melange, without commenting on how it was a reflection of his soul, was suddenly a very unwelcome idea. Arthur wondered if he would ever be able to drink it again unless it was Merlin who made it for him.

"Um no, I would like just like black coffee with a shot of hazelnut. 2 sugars."

"Got it," She turned around and started working the giant machine that he always thought probably came from some other planet.

"You weren't here the last time I came here."

"Oh! When was that?"

"About a week ago", _exactly_ \- he didn't add.

"Oh yeah! It was my brother, Elyan's birthday, and we were celebrating. Merlin covered for me." As if suddenly remembering something she whipped her head up. "He did not offend you did he? He doesn't really think before he speaks."

"Oh! No, not at all. I might have offended him more like it, I was not having a good day." He said sheepishly. "and there wasn't your lovely face to make my day better."  

She blushed. "Oh nonsense! As if i don't know Merlin is more of your type then i ever can be!" It was Arthur's turn to blush. Thank God Gwen was busy making coffee, with her back to him. "And don't worry, Merlin doesn't get offended easily."

He suddenly got an idea...

"But still, I would feel better if I could apologize in person. He doesn't work here?"

"He does. He just has the evening shifts. 4-10. Except Sundays. He does mornings on Sundays. He has classes in the morning you see; he is really bright, and very kind. I am sure he did not mind your rudeness, not that you are rude, but you can come across as brash sometimes. Its not your fault..." She kept rambling, and realized that she is digging herself into a deeper hole.

Taking a deep breath, and turning around with his coffee, she handed it to him.

"What I am saying is, Merlin is probably not upset. Don't worry about it."

Arthur smiled at her, and took the cup. He had gotten what he needed after all.

"Thank you! Beautiful."

Paying the money, he turned around and left the shop. For the first time in , well, ever... he was leaving Albion feeling worse than when he entered. He sipped the coffee and it tasted all wrong. Trying to ignore the heavy feeling inside his stomach, he kept walking.

Glancing down at the cup, he noticed the very neatly written _Arthur Pendragon_.

Did he say he was having a good day before? Well scratch that.

His day sucked. 

* * *

 

As if the universe was trying to right a wrong, he ended up having an exceptionally awful day. A child threw up on him, he saw an unvaccinated child with measles-unfortunately not his first this year- and  her entirely unapologetic mother who believed that she was doing her daughter a favor by keeping her susceptible to the dangerous diseases, his father yelled at him, Freya gave up on his mood and stopped trying to help, and worst of all... Morgana came up to his office to ask after him, because apparently the entire hospital had heard of his bad mood.

So it was no wonder that his feet took him back to Albion, second time in a day- another first- but damn it all, it was as bad as a day could get.

He was in such a foul mood that he didn't even remember what time it was and what was important about it. He was anxiously drumming his fingers on the counter to get his attention, but for some reason or the other, the barista was not paying him any attention.

"Excuse me?"

Still no answer. He waited another few minutes, only just noticing the incredibly large ears the barista had.

"Are those ears just for decoration or do you actually hear anything? Because one would think that with ears that large you would hear someone calling for you for the last five minutes!"

And that was when the barista turned and Arthur wanted nothing more than the ground to open up and swallow him whole. The blue eyes that he had absolutely not dreamed about the last whole week were looking at him... offended.

"And here i thought Gwen told me you were going to apologize."

"Umm, sorry! Just... really bad day."

"And what will you have today Sir nobody-is-allowed-to-be-cheerful-when-i-am-having-a-bad-day!" Even though he said it like a joke ,Arthur could tell he had upset Merlin.

"I am really sorry. I am not always so rude- or maybe I am, I don't know- but I didn't want to offend you of all people. Just..."

"Really bad day huh?"

"Yeah"

"You have those often?" Merlin busied himself in making the coffee. His hands moving expertly, his back turned towards Arthur. Arthur felt bereft , losing the sight of those gorgeous eyes, but he rubbed his hand across his face and concentrated on the voice. Merlin had a really nice voice.

"You have no idea", he laughed self deprecatingly.

"Mhm."

It was in no way an invitation to talk about his day but Arthur felt himself venting anyway.

"Anti vaxers" He said.

"Ah!" The understanding in Merlin's tone brought him up short.

"So you know those."

"Pretty much. They are exactly like the ones that deny evolution, or climate change. Arguing with them have been the worst days of my life."

"I had a child with measles come in today. Complicated measles. Her eyes were infected and she might lose her vision. Her mother did not want me to give her medicine because she thought fighting it herself would make her stronger. And she refused to vaccinate her for other diseases too. Sometimes I wish I could force medical treatments on the patients but law forbids it. God knows I try though."

Arthur was rambling but he was so frustrated and it was nice to have someone listening to him. Not that he expected Merlin to be listening, staring blankly at his profile, and his competently moving hands. He seemed to be in his element and yet even though Arthur could only see his back, he got the feeling that somehow Merlin's attention was as focused on him as the job on hand. It was a good feeling.

"And for that Arthur, I forgive you for bad mouthing my ears."

"I didn't mean to do that."

"Here is your coffee." He said, placing it on a tissue paper in front of him. That's when he remembered he didn't order any. He told Merlin as much.

"Its decaf," he made a face, which made Merlin laugh. For that laugh, Arthur would probably drink decaf coffee forever. "Don't make that face. You need to sleep, and I know you won't if you drink your black and bitter core drink."

"Awwee. I am touched. You care!"

Merlin batted his eyelashes ostentatiously. Arthur froze. It was an act , and a deliberately terrible one at that, but those eyelashes, those eyes, and that coy smile. His brain function seemed to have stuttered to a halt... and that was before Merlin said,

"Of course i care about Sire's well being." This time he didn't even bother pretending to make it sound like 'sir'. And that voice: the lilting cadence of it, and the flirtatious laughter just hiding beneath the surface... Arthur wanted to hear it directed towards him all the time.

Collecting himself after realizing he has been gaping like a fish for far too long making Merlin was looking at him with open amusement, Arthur picked up the cup as graciously as he could.

"Of course you do. You live to serve my whims after all"

"Prat."

"Excuse me?"

"I called you a Prat, Sir."

"Oh well, okay then. Idiot!"

Before Merlin could close his mouth and come up with a reply, he turned around and started walking towards the door.

"Clotpole!"

He heard Merlin shouting after him. What did that even mean? Never mind. He was smiling, his cup said Arthur Pratdragon, the coffee tasted delicious, and he had seen Merlin.

Albion never disappointed. Except that now, Merlin and Albion had to be a package deal. He looked down at his clothes to see the vomit stain that he had tried to wash out but it still showed- a garish ugly yellow-brown color on his white shirt. Merlin had seen that! Arthur tried to will himself to care about the fact that his hopeless , pathetic, ridiculous crush had seen him in vomit stained clothes, but his heart was too content to think of useless things like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I had already written the first 3 chapters before I started posting and right now I have written just one more. God give me enough perseverance to keep writing! Updates may not be so quick after this but I will try to be quick.


	4. Chapter 4

It started with something like this...

Arthur went on his usual twice-a-week-and-not-more-than-twice-a-week trip to Albion, around the time he knew it was going to be Merlin's shift - and it's not like he ever planned this, he just had free time during these hours- and patiently waited his turn, while looking at Merlin,handling customers politely, eyes roaming over the features he committed to memory every time he came here. That was when he noticed something was off.

"Hi Arthur. What would you like today?" Merlin asked him and that brought Arthur up short...again. Merlin almost never talked to him so politely, and he had stopped asking him what he wanted because he had decreed last week that Arthur didn't _really_ know what coffee he wanted. Merlin was just doing him a favor by choosing himself really.

"Arthur? Really? No clever remarks today? I am offended."

"Really not in the mood today. Just order already."

"Coffee. Black as my soul. 2 sugar."

"Black coffee coming up... " When Merlin didn't even smile at him, Arthur felt a weird mix of annoyance as well as concern creeping up at him.

"What the hell has gotten into you today?"

"Jesus! Can't someone just not be in the mood sometimes? Give me a break." He would've gotten extremely annoyed but luckily he spotted Merlin wincing at the sound the coffee machine made.

"Hangover?"

Merlin looked up at him and sighed.

"I wish... All nighter. I have finals coming up in a couple of days."

"Do you not believe in over the counter painkillers along with not believing in good sleep?" Arthur arched his eyebrows. "I always knew you were stupid, but didn't know you were so stupid."

"I just didn't have time okay, Sir I-am-a-doctor-hence-better-than-all-of-you!"

"If that's the best insult you can come up with today , than you are actually feeling worse than you look."

"Just! Shoo! Let me be. There is a line behind you, so take your arse back to your castle and let me do my job."Even though it was obvious Merlin was trying to be playful, but his voice just came out tired.

Arthur moved and waited for his coffee while Merlin took orders of other people with a smile which was more of a grimace. He didn't like it one bit.

When he picked up the cup, and paid, he also silently slipped a couple of aspirin on the counter along with the money. He couldn't help being a doctor sometimes.

* * *

 

A week and a half later, Merlin was wincing again, and rubbing his temples. He didn't have the look of someone heading towards the gallows on his face though- like he had the last couple of times Arthur saw him- so he looked better, even if he was obviously suffering from headache.

"All nighter?"

"Hangover." Merlin smiled sheepishly. "End of term celebrations can get a little wild."

Arthur left aspirin on the counter again, and thought nothing of it. He resolutely refused think about what the idea of wild entailed. The idea of Merlin in a club, totally sloshed, dancing with some girl... was not an idea that sit well with him. Even worse was the thought of him dancing with some other guy somehow. He ached to be the person with his arms around him, while unsteadily dancing and laughing. Merlin hanging off of his arms, using him for support, Merlin chin on his shoulder, Merlin kissing him...

Resolutely not thinking about it didn't work out.

Sue him.

* * *

 

The next time it was an adorable wrinkling of nose, followed by a sneeze, and Merlin covering his face with his hand.

Arthur didn't have an anti-allergic on him sure, but when his shift in hospital ended he made a second trip down to Albion, got a raised eyebrow look from Merlin and a decaf, and dropped 2 pills on the table.

It wouldn't do to pass on the germs.

* * *

 

Merlin had an angry scald burn on his forearm.

Arthur dropped by with a burn ointment.

* * *

 

"You know you are sort of becoming my dealer?" Merlin told Arthur, a couple of months into their non-friendship.

"It's because you are an idiot who doesn't know how to take care of himself."

"And you are a prat."

"That much is obvious, you call me that on every cup."

"You need constant reminding though."

"Oh well, you also call me a dragon every time too, and I read what I like into things."

Merlin rolled his eyes and looked up at Arthur with exasperation. But there was fondness there too. Arthur's pulse jumped at that look. To be honest, Arthur's pulse never not jumped whenever Merlin looked at him with his too blue eyes, that were always filled with mischief, but the fondness that sometimes showed in them didn't help his heart settle any.

It was a slow day, both at the hospital and in the coffee shop, so Arthur lingered even after ordering, looking at Merlin lazily making coffee. He was beautiful, and Arthur didn't know why he had not made a move yet. He was not in a habit of fooling himself- or maybe he was but this was too obvious to fool himself on- he _liked_ Merlin. _A lot_. So much so that he had to restrain himself from coming to coffee shop every day, or even twice a day, just to talk to him for a couple of minutes, and sometimes not even that. So much that Mondays and Thursdays had become his favorite days of the week, days he looked forward to...the ones that kept him sane. A doze of Merlin twice a week got him through all the shit the week threw at him.

He was wrong about Arthur sort of becoming his dealer. Merlin... was both his drug, and the dealer.

Maybe he just didn't want to risk losing it.

Which was stupid because he didn't even _have_ Merlin. They couldn't even be called friends.

He was shaken out of his gloomy thoughts by Merlin placing his cup of coffee in front of him. That's when he noticed it.

"What's that?"

"What?"

"That on your hand"

Merlin examined his hand and there, on his middle finger was a small cut . He shrugged.

"Paper cut...probably."

Arthur ruffled into his coat pockets- he knew he had it somewhere- and took out a band aid with a triumphant _A-ha_!

"There you go!"

"I am NOT putting on a band aid with Hello Kitty on it"

"Tough," Arthur took his wrist without even thinking about it, and Merlin stiffened for a second. Too late to take it back now, he pretended it wasn't  a big deal, pretended he hadn't been dreaming of holding Merlin's hands for months, and wrapped the band-aid around his finger against all of Merlin's protests.

"Jesus! You are worse than a 10 year old. See was that so hard?"

Merlin was clearly annoyed, but at the same time reluctantly amused. He just shook his head at him.

"You know you are not my doctor, don't you? And not to forget you are a child specialist!"

"That would matter if you would only grow up!"

"Wanker"

"Git"

"Pillock"

"Nutter"

"Dollop head"

"There you go making up words again."

"Well I am an English literature student. I have earned the right."

"Yeah yeah! Whatever."

That's when the door bed chimed- or more like _chirped_ because its Albion: an alternate dimension- and Arthur took it as his cue to leave.

"Hey Arthur," Merlin called after him when he was halfway towards the door.

"What?"

"I never really thanked you."

"Okay do it."

"Do what?"

"Thank me of course."

Merlin laughed.

"Thank you so much Your Pillockness, for taking care of your humble servants."

"A king is only as strong as his people."

"Specially the people who make him his coffee, right?"

"Look at that! You really do have a brain after all."

"Asshole," Merlin muttered, and then turned towards the lady waiting on the counter, getting more and more amused by their exchange and got busy, while Arthur quietly slipped out of the door... rejuvenated after the coffee, and of course _Merlin_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel too much like a doctor writing this... I can't decide if its a good thing or a bad one.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin meets Gwaine. Enough said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ended up having a really good writing day yesterday, so here is a quick update.

"Hello, I am Gwaine. Would you be interested in modelling for me?"

Taking Gwaine to Albion was not a good idea. Scratch that, it was a phenomenally bad idea. Bad idea's were Gwaine's specialty though; it was where he excelled. So it wasn't really Arthur's fault.

He had randomly showed up at his office, pretended to be a patient and waited his turn, until he could claim medical sickness called boredom, and declare himself in urgent need of some good coffee... and of the identity Arthur's secret boyfriend who had stolen away all of Arthur's attention.

"I don't have a boyfriend Gwaine!"

"It won't be a secret boyfriend if you could just go ahead and tell me now... would it?"

"There is no one! Secret or not!"

"I haven't received a Lunch-Hour-Call in weeks Arthur! Weeks! There is no other explanation."

"Maybe I haven't had a frustrating day in weeks..."

That just got him a look, eyebrows raised, incredulous. Arthur trailed off and accepted defeat.

"If you aren't going to tell me about your secret boyfriend... the least you could do is take me to your magic coffee place."

Arthur couldn't get out of it no matter what he said... and this was how Gwaine met Merlin, and hit on him a moment later.

Gwaine was a professional photographer... it surprised just about no one when he decided to select that as his career. Gwaine loved beautiful people; beautiful people loved him... that was how it had always been. What was unexpected was how good he was at it, but it honestly shouldn't have been, because even the lightening and angles were reluctantly charmed by him, and behaved the way he wanted them to.

"Err... what?"

"Model for me. I am a photographer, and your soft expressions and your contradicting sharp angles deserve to be captured. Also your eyes. Model for me, pretty please?"

Gwaine ostentatiously batted his eyelids and flipped his hair. Merlin looked stunned. Arthur could hardly blame him; there weren't many people who won't be dazzled by Gwaine when he was really trying.

"I am sorry, but I am not good with cameras. What will you have?"

"You don't have to be good with camera. I am good with camera. You just have to be your gorgeous self."

Merlin was faintly blushing, but also looking uncomfortable. This was the only reason Arthur spoke up.

"Shut up Gwaine. Sorry about him Merlin, he forgets himself."

"Only when I see a pretty face princess. Only then!" He sighed dramatically.

"Princess?" Merlin arched his eyebrows.

Arthur blushed.

"Um, yeah. Its a stupid nickname."

"I think its pretty apt actually. You really are a bit of a diva."

"Merlin?"

"Shut up?"

"You guessed it."

"Whatever you say, Your Highness."

"Just give me some caffeine for Christ's sake. And also Gwaine. He claims he has a medical emergency."

That's when Arthur noticed the person in question had gotten alarmingly quiet. He looked at him and saw him with a weird calculating look on his face, and a slowly widening smile.

"Oh no. Don't mind me. This has been the most entertaining and illuminating conversation to observe. Do go on."

Arthur, feeling incredibly self conscious, just rubbed the back of his neck and willed his face to not turn red. Gwaine grinned.

"I will have a french vanilla sweetheart. And I will have to call a rain check on that modelling offer. Arthur can be deadly when he puts his mind to it, and I value my life slightly more than I care about immortalizing your looks."

"Oh really! I have to say I am offended. I mean less than your life?" Merlin was smiling indulgently.Instantly Arthur hated that.

"Just slightly my darling. Slightly."

"Hmph!" he crossed his arms in front of his chest, and turned around to make the drinks.

They moved away from the counter, even though there was no one waiting behind them, and stood a little at the side at the lid/sugar/stirrer area. Arthur deliberately avoided his best friend's eye. It was by far the most awkward five minutes he had ever spent in Gwaine's company... and that's saying something, considering he has spent time with buck naked, shit faced drunk Gwaine, hitting on a 50 year old woman.

"French vanilla for you Sir, and an Americano for Arthur" Merlin voice rescued Arthur from looking at Gwaine's smirk, that he knew was there, taunting him in the periphery of his vision.

Hastily grabbing his mug, Arthur gave him a grateful smile, and took out money from his pocket to pay for both of them. Without saying anything other than a quick 'Thank you' , Arthur backed out of the shop as soon as he could, to stop Gwaine from saying anything un towards to Merlin. At the door he glanced back to find him quietly talking to Merlin and a shy smile lurking at the corners of Merlin's mouth.

"Gwaine... lets go. I am late for my rounds."

"Be right there Princess." He called out loudly, and then added him a quieter but no less audible voice, "bye darling, it was a real treat meeting you."

Arthur grit his teeth so tightly that he feared he might chip them, and his temples started hurting. Gwaine skipped out of the shop, an absolutely evil smile adorning his face.

"Relax Arthur. I am not gonna steal your secret boyfriend."

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Oh really! So you don't have any problem if I invite Merlin over for a half naked photo shoot? He really would look so good on my portfolio."

"Don't you dare!" Arthur growled before he could help himself.

The asshole threw his head back and laughed.

"I knew it!"

"It's nothing. It's just a hopeless crush. I am not even sure he is interested."

"Oh he is interested."

"Really?"

"Were you in the same room as i was? The UST was palpable there. You could taste it."

"Ugh! Why do I even listen to you."

"Because you love me!"

"I hate you!"

"No you don't. For what it's worth... I like him."

"Yeah?" Arthur looked up at him , only to find him looking back, his eyes sincere.

"Yeah."

Arthur didn't know he had been waiting for Gwaine's approval until he got it. Feeling content, he sipped coffee- heavenly as usual- and walked back towards hospital in a peaceful silence.

Halfway through he heard a snort.

"What is it?"

Gwaine turned his coffee cup towards him. On it, in Merlin's scratchy scrawl said,

 _Sir Vain_.

Arthur grit his teeth again and ignored Gwaine marveling, "He really is something isn't he?"

He could feel a headache coming.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Gwaine, its time to meet Morgana.

 "Arthur, Uther wants me to confirm if you read the email about the Saturday entertainment thing?" Morgana strode into his office, without warning, as soon as the patients he was dealing with at the moment left.

Arthur groaned.

His father has suddenly been struck with this brilliant (read ridiculous) idea that hospital needed to be a fun place too, and Saturdays needed to be less boring... specially for children. So he had sent a hospital wide email to all of the head of departments to figure out something fun for their wards (by which they meant patients) should do every weekend. Arthur had gotten a special email explaining why it was of utmost importance that he paid extra attention to the project because _children are special._

"I did." He sighed.

"There there now," she patronizingly patted his shoulder, "I am sure you will figure something out."

"They are sick children. They don't want to be entertained. They want to get better and go home."

Morgana smiled indulgently at his obvious distaste over the idea, in a way which told him she kind of agreed but would rather not say anything.

"You have figured out what to do, haven't you?"                                    

"Yep!"

"What is it?"

"I am gonna make them all knit sweaters."

Arthur gaped at her. Morgana was head of Nephrology, and there were more old people there than any other ward. The image of aged men and women, with knitting needles and colorful yarn, was something he didn't think he would ever be able to get out of his head. He needed brain bleach.

"I know! Its horrible isn't it?" She seemed far too pleased with herself. He gaped some more.

"That way father would very quickly realize what a bad idea it is."She said matter of factly.

Arthur couldn't decide whether Moragana was a bloody genius or a manipulative villain, but either way, he was impressed.

"Wow. That's brilliant. Evil... but brilliant."

"I know."

Smirking, she turned and moved towards the door. Without glancing back, she called out,

"Oh by the way... I need you to take me to Albion."

Arthur froze.

"Wha..."

"Today, 6 pm. Meet you at the door." She was already getting out of his office door before he could voice a protest, or ask her how she knew about Albion.

Morgana was a witch. Like a literal actual witch. She couldn't do magic, or predict future and stuff, but she could most definitely make it impossible for you to lie to her, or hide something from her, or- the worst of it all- say no to her. If that wasn't some powerful wizardry, Arthur didn't know what else could be called that.

He held his head in his hands, elbows on the table, and just breathed for a few minutes. He could feel his panic bubbling up beneath the surface. There was no way he could hide what was going on from her, she would figure it out the moment she claps eyes on Merlin. She knew Arthur's type extremely well.

Arthur was 12 when Morgana showed up at his house, his father introducing her as his sister without any clarifications... he instantly disliked her. Uther was kind to her where he had always been cold and distant to Arthur and he begrudged her Uther's attention. They went on ignoring each other's existence until one day Arthur, came home drunk and miserable- after breaking up with Cedric , or more like Cedric dumping him after 2 years of being together on the basis of Arthur being too posh- and collapsed in front of Morgana's door. He was eighteen, broken hearted, and very very drunk.He told Morgana he hated her, that everything came easy to her and everyone loved her. She picked him up, took him to his room, and sat with him while he talked about how unfair love was. Then she told him Cedric was an asshole.

They had been inseparable ever since.

When people saw them together, they couldn't decide whether they wanted to kill each other, or wanted to kill anyone who would the other harm. Most days... it was both.

Resolving to leave this matter to fate... he tried not to think about Merlin and Morgana meeting, and tried to get through the day.

At 6:00 pm, taking a deep breath and steeling himself, Arthur got up after seeing his last patient- a child with sore throat, nothing major- and went to meet meet his sister.

"Hello brother! Right on time." She smiled sweetly at him. She had changed clothes, which meant she was going home after this.Even though she had been on call all night and had emergency duty in her ward today, she still looked like she stepped out of a magazine, clad in a cream colored top and casual jeans with her hair tied in a high pony. How she managed to always look so elegant, Arthur would never understand. He was sure he looked like a homeless person right now. He told Morgana as much.

"Nonsense, you look lovely. You always do. Even though I inherited the better genes, you didn't do badly yourself."

"Will you tell me how you even know about Albion." Arthur sighed, as he opened the door for her.

"I just know."

"That's incredibly helpful."

Morgana let out quiet laugh and looked at Arthur mischievously.

Though when they entered Albion, she stopped dead in her track.

"I take it you have never been here?"

Morgana just shook her head in wonder , looking around her. Arthur smiled.

"Go sit on that table in the corner- its the best spot- and I will be right back. A frappuccino right?"

She just nodded, still speechless with awe. He gave her a nudge, and moved towards the counter.

Merlin was busy giving the coffee and a brown bag to a young teenage boy, probably college going. He seemed absolutely baffled by the pile of coins lying in front of him. Arthur peered ahead at the counter and found them all to be pennies and nickels. The kid had paid the entirety of his order in change! Arthur couldn't help the snort as he looked at Merlin, whose face was trying to decide whether he wanted to laugh or not.

Merlin looked up at the snort and his face broke out in a wide smile when he saw him.

"Look who is here. Mr Cabbage Head!" He called out while he shifted the coins into the drawer without counting and shooed the kid away. He ducked away from the counter sheepishly.

"Your insults get worse and worse each day. I am ashamed to know someone who is so stupid."

"And I am ashamed to know someone who is such an ass!" He said sunnily.

"Looks like someone is chipper today!"

"The someone is me right? I know its me. It's a good day, what can I say. You will leave your coffee fate in my capable hands again ?" He started moving without even waiting for a reply.

"Don't I always?" Arthur replied, but then suddenly remembered about Morgana. "Oh hey! I will also have a frappuccino."

Merlin made a disgusted face which made Arthur laughed- he had never made him a cold drink before. Apparently Merlin believed that coffee was supposed to be hot.

"I came with someone." Arthur explained.

"Oh! Who?" Merlin asked without looking at him.

"That would be me!" Suddenly Arthur felt a hand slip into the curve of his elbow, and he looked to see Morgana standing there.

"Morgana! I told you to wait on the table."

"But darling! I was so bored. And I wanted to know more about your favorite coffee place."

"You are hopeless."

"I am." She just grinned at him.

Turning back towards Merlin, who was looking at them with a strange expression on his face, which Arthur assumed was a question about the identity of his companion.

"Morgana, this is Merlin. Merlin this is..."

"I am Morgana. The first true love of Arthur's life. He would deny it sure, but just between us,he can't live without me." She lowered her voice to a fake conspiratorial whisper at the end.

Arthur rolled his eyes and didn't bother correcting her. She just ruffled his hair.

When Arthur tried to look back at Merlin, he found him busy with coffee making. So he just moved to a side and waited, itching to talk to Merlin while he worked but trying to not give Morgana more ammunition against him. He was sure she had read his heart eyes in a second.

"Here you go. A cappuccino and a frappicuno."

Merlin gave them their coffees with a smile which didn't quite reach his eyes. Arthur didn't understand the reason for it- just a few minutes back Merlin seemed to be in a brilliant mood- but couldn't ask while his witch of a sister was watching them like a hawk.

"Nice to meet you Merlin. I am afraid Arthur never mentioned you."

"Oh well. I just make him coffee twice a week. There is not much to tell."

"Oh I am sure that's not all it is."

Merlin just smiled tightly and bid them a good day, and turned towards cleaning the counter and rearranging the cups. Taking it as their cue to leave, they both turned and walked towards the door.

Feeling unsettled for some reason he couldn't quite put his finger on, Arthur stayed quiet part of the way back to hospital, until he remembered to ask,

"So you liked Albion?"

"And from Albion you mean Merlin?"

Arthur blushed.

"He is precious. I approve."

"There is nothing going on!"

"Maybe not! But you want there to be right?"

Arthur nodded.

"Well he is obviously into you. And he makes excellent coffee.I would say it again... I approve."

Feeling warm, and excited to hear the two most-and only- important people in his life saying Merlin was _obviously_ interested in him, Arthur felt lighter than he had ever since he left Albion.

"He even has such a cute writing." Morgana commented.

Arthur looked down at his own cup fondly, expecting another glimpse of Merlin's favorite insult. He didn't even bother writing Arthur on it anymore, his cup always said " _Pratdragon_ ".

Instead, he was shocked to find a relatively neat looking "Arthur Pendragon" adorning his cup. What was up with that.

 _Maybe he forgot._ Arthur thought, but he couldn't ignore the nagging feeling that something was wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry... not really. I love these dumb idiots.


	7. Chapter 7

The next time Arthur showed up at Albion, it was his usual Thursday, make-sure-its-Merlin's-duty-hours-and-not-Gwen's time. He had willed himself not to show up for the last two days after Merlin's weird behaviour, and had halfway convinced himself that nothing was wrong.

That's why he was shocked to see Gwen standing at the counter.

Plastering a fake smile on his face, he walked up to her.

"Hello Gwen."

"Oh hi! Arthur! Wow... I haven't seen you for months." Gwen seemed genuinely surprised to see him, and it made guilt stab at his conscience.

"Yeah! Sorry about that. I had a change in duty schedule and couldn't spare time around my usual hours. So I ended up coming here at different shifts."

Sometimes he hated how good he could lie.

"Ah that's alright! I just wondered if you had moved or something, but Merlin mentioned you a couple of times so I figured maybe your life as a doctor had improved."

"Speaking of him, where is Merlin? Isn't that his usual shift time?"

"He took today off. Said he wasn't feeling too well."

"Is it anything serious?" Arthur suddenly felt concerned. What if Merlin had been behaving weird because he had been seriously ill and Arthur couldn't tell because of how worried he was about Morgana being there?

"No, nothing big. Just flu he said. What will you have?"

Arthur was startled at the reminder that sometimes he had to order coffee at coffees shops and it didn't magically appear.

"Ah! Black coffee today... I think?" He didn't understand what kind of a day he was having, and what coffee would make it better. It was Merlin's job. Damn it.

"Coming right up."

* * *

 

Arthur didn't let himself linger on thoughts of Merlin over the weekend. Come Monday though, he was more than ready to face the day, and see Merlin. It was strange to pass almost a whole week without talking to him.

This time seeing Gwen standing on the counter again, made him cross the line from concerned to really fucking worried.

"Is he alright?" Was the first thing he said to Gwen.

"Wha...who?" Gwen startled. The shop was empty and she hadn't noticed Arthur arriving.

"Merlin! He isn't here today either. Is he still sick?"

"I don't think so..."

"What do you mean you don't think so?"  Arthur was getting impatient, and he was being rude Gwen. He could see that but couldn't help himself.

"What I mean is... I don't know if he is still sick or not, but I don't think so, because he did his hours over the weekend and seemed fine." Gwen straightened up, and said tersely.

Feeling somewhat relieved, Arthur relaxed his tense stance.

"I am sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you. Do you know why he isn't here today?"

"Yeah. He exchanged his shifts with me for this Monday and Thursday. There isn't a class on these days and he said he studies better in the evenings. I like the idea of  having two mornings to myself, so I agreed."

She still sounded affronted and talked in a businesslike way. He felt like shit for alienating her but something else was bothering him far too much to think about making it up to Gwen.

_Mondays and Thursdays_. The specific days which Arthur had made a routine to come to Albion. He saw red, and turned around to walk out of the shop.

"Arthur. Don't you want coffee?" Gwen called after him, concerned.

"Sorry. Don't feel like it."

In fact, Arthur didn't feel like anything except figuring out what the hell was going on with Merlin.

* * *

 

Tuesday, Arthur waited impatiently for the time to pass quickly, so he could finally go meet Merlin and ask him what was wrong. The minutes seemed to pass infinitesimally slowly, the hands of the clock nearly immobile, taunting Arthur.

As soon as it was 4:30 pm and Arthur could be reasonably certain it was Merlin's shift time, he dashed out of the hospital, ignoring Freya calling him and asking when he will be back.

He walked briskly towards Albion, and didn't stop until he was standing in front of it. Overcome with strange nervousness, he lingered there, hesitating. Gathering up his courage, he pushed the door open.

Merlin was standing at the counter.

Arthur released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, and walked towards the counter.

If Merlin was surprised to see him, he didn't let it show on his face.

"Hello Arthur." He smiled. There was something weird about that smile. Merlin hadn't smiled at him like this since his first few times, if even that.

"Hi." He didn't know how to bring up the fact that Merlin had been trying to avoid him.

"Latte?"

"Yeah sure." At least he wasn't asking what he wanted, even if he hadn't confirmed the order for quite some time either.

They didn't say anything else until Merlin handed him the cup. Immediately Arthur picked it up and looked at the name.

_Arthur Pendragon-_ it said.

"What the hell Merlin. What's that?"

"What's what?"

"This!" He shoved the cup in his face.

"That's your name... one would assume." Merlin said matter of factly.

"You never write my name. Not even the first time. Why are you suddenly being all formal?"

"I just don't feel like continuing the silly bantering anymore. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is Merlin... that I thought we were friends!" He was almost shouting now.

"I thought we were friends too." Merlin's voice was rising as well.

"THEN WHAT IS UP WITH THIS?" He shook the cup in front of his face again.

"IT'S BECAUSE I DON'T FLIRT WITH TAKEN MEN!"

The quiet following Merlin's outrage was deafening. Arthur was stunned into silence.

"What...?"

"Please... Just leave." Merlin said quietly.

"But..."

"Please Arthur." His voice was so defeated, he didn't know how to make him understand. He paid the money and turned to leave.

"Merlin... listen to me..." He tried one more time.

"Not now Arthur. Maybe later."

What could he possibly say to that, so he just slipped out of shop, wondering how to make it better. 

* * *

 

"Merlin thinks we are in a relationship." Arthur slumped into the seat in Morgana's office.

"Well I am afraid to tell you, that you two kind of are."

"Not... not me and _Merlin._ Me and YOU."

Morgana let out a startled half laugh, and looked at Arthur to figure out if he was joking.

"You are not joking?"

"I am not joking." Arthur ruefully shook his head.

"Did you tell him I was your _sister_?"

"I tried to... but then..."

"So he still doesn't know!"

Arthur looked at her helplessly. She got up and started pacing.

"Oh my God! How could you be so stupid Arthur?  I thought you had already told him all about me. The way you two looked at each other, I thought you two would've definitely shared your deepest and most hidden secrets with each other, let alone _family introductions_."

Arthur opened his mouth to reply but Morgana made him snap it shut with a look.

"And you actually left him _still_ thinking you weren't single."

Arthur nodded.

"What exactly did he say?"

"He said he doesn't  flirt with taken men."

Morgana gaped at him for a few seconds. And then turned on her heels and walked away.

"Where are you going?"

"Where are _we_ going? Not I. We. And the answer is Albion. We are going there right now. Get up."

"Wait. Morgana he said not now. I don't think this is a good idea."

"It's not _now_ anymore. And  not going is an even worse idea. Trust me."

Morgana walked ahead of him,her steps fast and sure.He had no choice but to follow.

In front of the shop, Arthur tried to reason with her one more time.

"Morgana listen to me..."

She grabbed his arm, laced hers with it, and entered the shop. Nobody could tell she was half dragging him, but she was.

She didn't stop until she was standing in front of the counter, facing Merlin.

"Hi! I don't think we were introduced properly before."

"I think we were. Lady Morgana right?" Merlin said, his voice polite but devoid of all warmth.

"That's right. I am Morgana. Arthur's half sister."

Merlin gaped at her.

"Oh!"

"Yeah. Oh! My brother is an idiot, but I didn't expect you to be one as well."

"Err..."

"I can't blame you though. I do have extra ordinary good looks and I don't look anything like my idiot of a brother, but really. This was ridiculous."

"I am sorry..." Merlin sounded flustered by the sudden onslaught of Morgana's rant.

"Just _please_ make up with him, he has been like a kicked puppy all week."

Arthur was sure his face was brilliantly red, and he couldn't look up to see what Merlin was doing.

"I am gonna leave him here to ask you out. If he doesn't, I am gonna kidnap you both and throw you on a boat in the middle of nowhere so you two dumb heads can finally figure things out."

And with that declaration, she stomped out of the shop.

They both stood in an awkward silence for a few minutes, too embarrassed to talk.

"Well that was weird." Merlin, bless him, was first to break the quiet.

"Yeah. I am sorry about her. She is a little bit of a force of nature." He chuckled.

"Little bit? Understatement of the century." Merlin's voice was smiling. That gave him enough courage to look up at him.

Merlin's lips were smiling as well... and his eyes. His ears were pink, and he had a sheepish look on his face, but he didn't look hurt and distant, like he had a couple of hours ago. Arthur's heart swelled to double its size.

"Hey look. You don't have to ask me out just because your sister bullied you into it..."

"No! I mean yes! I mean no..." Arthur took a deep breath to organize his thoughts. "What I mean to say is, I want to ask you out. I have been meaning to for months now. I just didn't know if you were interested."

"Now who is the slow one..." Merlin teased.

"But," Arthur continued, "I don't want to ask you out because my devil of a sister said so. So I will. Ask you that is. But later. Is that alright? Would you be okay with that?"

"Well... you will have to ask and see i guess."

"You aren't very helpful ,you know that?"

"That's part of my charm." Merlin winked.

"I should... umm... go? Morgana is waiting outside." Arthur didn't want to leave, because he was afraid Merlin would go back to being the cold stranger if he looked away, but the idea of Morgana standing outside was making him antsy.

"Okay."

"Okay..."

"Goodbye Arthur."

"Goodbye Merlin."

When Arthur still didn't take a step, Merlin chuckled, bent forward over the counter, and placed a barely there, gone before he could even realize it was happening, kiss on his lips.

"Huh!" Arthur touched his fingers to his lips, dazed.

Merlin chuckled again, and shoved Arthur's shoulder.

"Go!"

"Yeah! I am going..."

"You still aren't"

"Arthur..." Morgana called from outside, and that's what got his feet moving... finally.

"See you later yeah?" Merlin called from behind him when he was near the door. He sounded nonchalant, but he could hear the tentative hope in his voice.

"Definitely" Arthur assured him, without turning around. If he saw Merlin now, he was sure he won't be able to leave.

He stepped out of the shop to find Morgana with a positively wicked grin on her face, which grew even bigger when she saw the look on Arthur's face, and his fingers still rubbing his lips.

"I take it, it went well?"

"Yeah."

"Good."

"Thank you Morgana." He suddenly felt overwhelmed with the need to hug her, but they didn't do touchy feely, so he just took her hand in his and squeezed it.

"You're always welcome. Always." She sounded surprised at the gesture, but squeezed his hand back anyway.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mentions of insecurities of a doctor, and death of a child? I don't know if it would be disturbing for anyone, but if it is... you are pre-warned.

It was late. Arthur knew it was, but he felt too numb to even care about checking his watch. The sun had set quite some while ago, the streetlights creating a haunting display of long shadows and dark corners interspersed between areas of bright, unwelcome, unnatural yellow light.

His feet kept striking the pavement without any conscious thought directing them, and he was vaguely aware he was going towards Albion.

It was late.

The shop would be closed, or closing. Merlin won't be there. There was no reason to go to the coffee shop when he didn't think he would be able to stomach anything, but the other choice he had was go home.

Last thing he wanted to do was to go home, to his clean bare walls, and impersonal room, where the screams and cries that were still ringing in his ears would echo endlessly.

No. He needed to go to Albion, even if to just look at it, and see it exists, and maybe snap back into the present.

The door had a closed sign on it, but it was still unlocked, and Arthur could see slight light inside. He pushed in.

"We are closed." Merlin called out, from somewhere in the back. He wasn't standing on the counter.

Arthur sighed at the familiar voice, and leaned back against the door, breathing in the air, and trying to remind himself that this was real.

"I am sorry we are..." Merlin emerged from the back room talking, and stopped dead in his tracks when he looked at Arthur.

"Arthur!" He said in alarm, and in a blink he was at his side.

"What happened?" His voice was barely more than a whisper, and he cautiously touched Arthur's arm. Arthur closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Nothing." Sound clung to his throat, and came out in a choked gasp. He squeezed his his already shut eyes, willing away the memory still vividly playing behind his eyelids, and clenched his hands into fists to stop them from trembling. It was useless though; he could feel his whole frame slightly shaking.

"Okay... okay."

Merlin sounded flustered, and worried. Arthur hated that he was worrying him, but he didn't know what else to do.

"Just... sit alright? Come on," he lightly tugged on the arm he was still holding and Arthur moved with it like a puppet without a will of his own.

Merlin navigated them to the nearest chair, and pushed lightly on Arthur's shoulder, indicating he should sit. He collapsed into the chair, and could feel Merlin twitching and fussing at his side.

When he felt Merlin pulling away and moving, he instinctively reached for his wrist, holding him there.

"Don't go!" His voice was barely audible, but Merlin would understand.

"I am not going anywhere Arthur.  Just let me get you a glass of water . Okay?"

He opened his eyes and gazed at the blue, sincere, and so very very worried eyes. He nodded.

"Be back in a second."

A moment later, the chair in front of him was dragged, and Merlin sat on it, sliding a glass of water in his direction. Arthur took it, in a desperate bid of finding something to _do_ , and took a sip. It was then that he realized that his throat was parched. He greedily gulped down the water, and put the glass back down.

He felt calmer, he realized with a start. He wasn't _fine_ , but no longer did he feel like he would fall apart, tear at the seams, and disintegrate into the very atoms that composed him. It shouldn't have surprised him as much as it did, because this was exactly what this place had always done for him... made him feel better. Same went for Merlin's presence.

The said calming presence had been sitting there, waiting patiently for Arthur to gather himself, and he figured he owed him an explanation.

"I lost a patient..." Arthur started speaking, his voice still clogged with too many emotions. It felt like jagged glass, stuck in his throat, ripping through the flesh while coming out.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to"

"No!" He said quickly."I want to. Its not easy to say, but I want to. To you."

 Merlin's hand covered his on the table, and he felt pathetically grateful for that anchor to the reality.

"It's not the first time. Sick children die all the time, more so than any other patients. I would hardly be able to function if I let the deaths get to me like this. You get used to them. You treat them like an eventuality. You learn to move on."

He looked at Merlin, willing him to understand what he was saying. The way he was looking back, eyes full of sympathy and understanding, made Arthur go on.

"I thought I had learned to move on." He laughed mirthlessly.

Merlin still didn't say anything, waiting patiently. His hand a stable pressure on his, not squeezing, but not moving away.

"Michael. He was five..." his vocal cords were closing on him again, and it took effort to produce any sound through them, "he was five, and I just held his hand while he died. I couldn't do anything."

Merlin squeezed his fingers and then brought the other hand forward and clasped his hand into both of his.

"He had Aplastic Anemia," the doctor found himself compelled to explain, "it means his body was not producing any blood cells. Its serious disease, but manageable most of time time, except," he swallowed painfully, "except he had pneumonia too. His body was producing no cells to combat it, and nothing external we would give would help. We tried. God! We tried everything. But there was nothing we could do except watch helplessly as the bacteria won. As he slowly, inevitably, lost the fight."

Arthur throat was parched again, but he didn't want Merlin to move his hand to get him water, so he didn't say anything.

"How long had you been sitting with him Arthur?"

Arthur startled at the question.

"Since Thursday evening, when he arrived. I don't know how long has it been."

"God! That's 2 days! It's Saturday night now! Did you catch any sleep?" Arthur shook his head, "Ate anything?" another shake, "Rest?" Arthur looked up at him helplessly.

"I don't remember, honestly."

"You should sleep Arthur," his tone was painfully gentle. "Go home."

He didn't want to go home. He slowly shook his head, eyes widening in panic, at the mention.

"No! Please. All I can hear is his mother crying, sobbing while looking at me with accusing eyes and I can't go home. Can't go home to the absolute quiet there. The voices will drive me crazy." He almost begged.

"Okay... okay."

"I just don't want to be alone right now." He said in a small voice.

 He could almost see the gears in Merlin's head turning. Making up his mind he nodded.

"I know what we should do! We should get drunk!" He said with an air of finality.

* * *

 

Whether getting drunk was the best idea he had ever had, or the worst, Arthur couldn't decide. He was nowhere near drunk, but he wasn't sober either. On the plus side, the vise around his heart had loosened a bit. The ache, if not receding, dulled somewhat.  On the other hand, his tongue seemed out of the control of his higher brain functions.

"You have beautiful eyes." He knew, in some deep recesses of his still protesting mind, that he would regret telling Merlin this... but he couldn't seem to care right now.

"Arthur! Mate! You are drunk..." Merlin seemed buzzed too, but not too inebriated.

"I guess its because my stomach is as empty as it gets... hmmm!" Arthur wondered aloud, vaguely. "But that's not the point. They were the first things I noticed."

"What?"

"You eyes!" He clapped his hand on Merlin's back, and then found that he didn't want to move it away.

"Okay fuck it! I deserve to listen to this. What about my eyes?"

"They are so..." He moved his hand up and down Merlin's back, watching his eyes widen in shock. He didn't protest though, so Arthur continued.

"So?"

"So... so... " Alcohol apparently made him forget his adjectives.

"Blue! That's the word. So blue."

Merlin snorted.

"And beautiful." He gazed dreamily in the distance, unaware of the fact that the eyes he was talking about were right there beside him, staring at him, not 2 feet away.

"Michael had blue eyes." He suddenly remembered, and all the happiness bled out of him.

"Hey..." A hand reached out to take his beer bottle away, but he quickly snatched it, dropping his hand away from Merlin's back.

"Your eyes are always smiling though. His didn't. His were sad, and tired." He took a long swallow from the bottle, and pushed it away. He didn't feel like drinking anymore.

"I feel like I killed him." Bringing his arms up on the counter and folding them, he rested his head on them.

"You didn't. You did all you could."He felt an arm come across his shoulder, hugging him.

"I tried all I could yeah... but what if all I can do isn't good enough? Maybe someone else would have done better. Maybe someone else would have saved him."

He turned his head to look at the man, who was quickly becoming more than intimately familiar with his worst fears and insecurities and strangely... he wanted to tell him more.

"Sometimes I feel like I am just playing dress up. Wearing an overall, going to hospital, ordering people around like I am the king of the place... sometimes it feels like its all for the show. That I am just pretending to be a doctor, faking it."

"We all feel this way sometimes."

"Yes. But not everyone has to wonder if their game actually cost someone their life."

"I am sorry." He looked sorry, his eyes downcast.

"Hey!" He reached out with one hand and patted his face. "It's not your fault. You are my one good thing."

"You can't say stuff like that... you hardly know me."

"I know you," he said lazily, conjuring up a smile for the sheer stupidity of the statement, "you are the idiot you says stuff like that."

A smack landed on his head, and he chuckled, his heart lightening. His hand was still on Merlin's face, his fingers tracing the cheekbones, feeling the smile stretching the muscles. He brought his thumb down to trace the edges of the lips, where they were pulled into a smile, and then moved it along the lower lip, back and forth, back and forth. His gaze was transfixed on his thumb on Merlin's lips, every nerve ending focused on the sensation of Merlin opening his mouth, his breath warm on his thumb.

"You are drunk..." Merlin's stuttered, his voice hoarse, his tongue coming out to wet his lips and almost brushing the thumb still moving along them.

"I know." Arthur raised his head from the counter and moved closer.

"We shouldn't do this when you are drunk." Arthur finally tore his gaze away from Merlin's plump, red, and so very tempting lips to look him in the eyes. They were dilated, the blue almost completely obliterated by the black.

"I know." His other hand came up to the other side of Merlin's face, cupping his cheeks.

"Arthur..." Merlin's voice was barely more than a whisper. Arthur bent his head and rested his forehead against his, and closed his eyes.

"I know we shouldn't, but I want to. Just once." There was no response, just heavy breaths puffing out against his face, their breath mingling.

"Please..."

Merlin nodded.

Arthur felt something inside him give at the answer. He angled his lips without opening his eyes, and for the second time in his life, touched them to Merlin's. It felt like the rest of the world had receded into a distance, all the noise of the bar dimmed and unreal. Only thing real was the soft press of his lips to Merlin, as he started kissing him softly, almost chastely at first, luxuriating in the feeling of triumph as he started kissing his back. He opened his mouth and took Merlin's lower lip in between his, sucking lightly, and then did the same to the upper one, and repeated it a few times. When he bit the lip gently Merlin gasped, and that was when he deepened the kiss, licking into Merlin's mouth, running his tongue along Merlin's  teeth, and tangling it with his tongue, tasting him, swallowing his gasps and moans, and in turn becoming completely overwhelmed and consumed by everything that was Merlin. His hands had moved from Merlin's face into his messy hair, and he twisted his fingers into them. A part of his brain that wasn't busy drowning in the intensity of the kiss, marveled at the silky texture of the hair, and how good it felt to have his hand running through them. An even smaller part of his brain registered that Merlin's hand on his back felt equally good, and he wouldn't want it to ever stop.

It was Merlin who broke away from the kiss,heaving, his hand coming coming in front of him to push at Arthur's chest. He relented, but not before a whine came out of his throat... he would feel more embarrassed by it if he wasn't half drunk, and kissed senseless.

"Oxygen." He said breathlessly. "A little something that's necessary for life."

Arthur harrumphed.

"It's overrated." But he dutifully slid his fingers out of Merlin's hair, loathe to let it go, and straightened, putting some much needed distance between them if he was to stop himself from kissing him again.

"I agree." Merlin's eyes were on Arthur's mouth, and he couldn't help doing the same. Seeing the red, swollen and so well kissed lips made him groan.

"If I kiss you again, I won't be able to stop." He warned.

"Yeah! You should go home."

Arthur froze. Merlin could almost sense the panic creeping back into Arthur's mind, and responded before it could get out of hand.

"Oh right! Home is a bad idea. What about my home?"

Even through the haze of panic, Arthur managed to raise an amused eyebrow.

"I don't mean like _that_ you pervert! I like with my uncle anyway. And there is a couch! It's a great couch. I will sleep on that... you sleep on the bed."

 _Merlin's flustered rambling was the most adorable thing ever_ , he thought, as he was led outside into the warm summer air. They hailed a taxi, and Arthur sat with his head resting on the window pane. The quiet and the hypnotizing sound of the car,and the pleasant vibration soon made the last two days get to him. He remembered things after that in flashes- his door opening and someone tugging him out, walking while being draped around someone's shoulder, elevator, murmured conversation, and lastly..being shoved into a bed.

* * *

 

Merlin looked at the sight Arthur made, curled like a kitten into a ball, with his coat and shoes still on, fast asleep. Exhaustion would do that to you _. The Idiot_! he thought, _who the hell goes two days without food or rest_? Apparently Arthur did.

Turning around to turn off the light and leave the room,he couldn't help glance back one more time at the prat he was becoming more and more fond of with each passing day and could barely stop the stab of affection and concern that hit him to see the guy, who was never looked anything short of regal, looking so small and scared, even in sleep.

 _I just don't want to be alone right now,_ he remembered the echo of the words. Words he was sure Arthur had almost never spoken before in his life. He didn't seem like the sort who asked for help.

"Oh I am so going to regret this." He mumbled to himself, as he closed the door, turned off the room lights and moved towards the bed. One more glance at the sleeping form firmed his resolve and he started stripping until he was in his boxers and undershirt. First he took off Arthur's shoes-the man barely even moving at the disturbance- and then he silently slipped into the bed on the opposite side, exhausted after the long day, and fairly apprehensive of the fact that Arthur might not like this when he wakes up.

Looking at his favorite clotpole's face from such a close proximity, peaceful and relaxed in sleep, the lines of exhaustion that were frequently decorating it all but invisible, tightened something in his heart, making him smile and fall a little bit in love.

 _I am so fucked!_ He thought, as he shifted to turn off the bedside lamp and descend the room in darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first death I ever witnessed was a child with aplastic anemia with pneumonia. My first day in pediatric rotation, and for the week afterwards I couldn't get over it. I locked my door, and just lay in bed periodically crying. It was one of the most disturbing things of my life. When I thought about what could put Arthur off of his game so much, I couldn't think of anything other than this.   
> PS: I discovered that I can't write drunk Arthur, I hope this wasn't too much of a disaster.  
> PPS: I can't write kisses either. Ugh!


	9. Chapter 9

Arthur woke up to a splitting headache, and empty bed, and a few minutes of extreme confusion as to where he was. Then slowly, in reverse order, he remembered events of the night- waking up snuggled against a wiry frame, his face full of unruly hair, falling asleep the moment he hit the bed, kissing Merlin,telling Merlin his eyes were so blue, Merlin holding his hand, Merlin comforting him, and somewhere in the very distant memory he remembered losing a patient which had led to everything that followed.

Groaning in mortification he tried to sink deeper into the bed, willing it to just let him get swallowed into the ground and never come out.

This was _not_ how he had planned to get into Merlin's bed. His plan involved a lot more of flirting, dates, seduction, and a lot less clothes. His plan culminated in things far more interesting than just sleep.

He laid in bed, looking around the room, marvelling at the sheer _Merlin-ness_ of it. The walls were a dull green in color, with one of them adorned with wall length cupboard full of books. How did Merlin even ever reach the top shelf without using some sort of ladder? Squinting, he realized there were more fiction than classic literature books there, and the fact made him smile... Merlin was a nerd. There was clutter on the writing table- it wasn't messy, but it looked like someone who didn't know what neatness was had haphazardly tried to make it look organized.That theme resonated with the entire room actually. The best thing about room though, was the Harry Potter poster on the back of the door!

After a few minutes, when it became clear that he could not erase the existence of last night just by sheer force of will, he sat up, realizing he wasn't wearing his shoes anymore. The thought of Merlin taking off his shoes, the aching domesticity of it, would have made him smile if his head wasn't bent on making his life hell and complaining pitifully against every movement. By some heroic feat of tolerance and persistence, Arthur managed to drag himself to the washroom- he needed to do something about the taste in his mouth.

Once there he realized he didn't have a tooth brush, until he saw a new packed one lying on the counter _. Bless you Merlin_ , he thought, and proceeded to go through his morning routine to feel a little bit more human.

Vaguely remembering Merlin mentioning something about an uncle, and wondering where they both were, Arthur ventured out of the room. After that, figuring out where to go was easy, the smell of coffee pulling him towards the kitchen. He stopped short when he reached there, suddenly coming face to face with an old man, with graying hair, and a terrifying raised eyebrow.

"Um... Hi?"

"Hello young man. You must be Arthur."

"Yes?"

"Are you answering, or are you asking me?"

"Yes. I mean yes, I am Arthur."

"Nice to meet you. You weren't what I was expecting after hearing Merlin talk about you for months." he said without really paying attention to who he was talking, turning around and moving towards what Arthur could guess was the kitchen.

"Oh."

"Don't worry. I was expecting much worse. He doesn't have a good choice in men." The man confided.

Arthur didn't know what to do so he just stared nervously while following one step behind him. He had never reached the meet-the-parents phase of a relationship, he frankly had never had time for a serious one, but this distinctly felt like it was one of those moments. He desperately wished he was feeling less out of it, and could do something to salvage his impression-which he was sure was fast becoming one of dumb headed idiot.

"Sorry."

"What are you apologizing for?" The man seemed to talk with his eyebrows, and right now, as he glanced back to look at him, they were tilted in a way that indicated curiousity.

"Nothing. Sorry. You are Merlin's uncle?"

"Yes. I am Gaius. You should sit on the table, I will bring over coffee."

He pointed towards a small round table, with 4 chairs around it. Arthur went to sit on it, and a minute later Gaius appeared with a cup of coffee and a folded piece of paper.

"Merlin left this for you."

"Left this..." Arthur trailed off. "Where is he?"

"I think he would have written exactly that on the paper wouldn't he?" Gaius raised his eyebrow again, and lightly shook the hand holding the paper, while putting the cup of coffee in front of him.

Arthur reached forward and took the paper, opening it cautiously .

_Arthur,_

_Sorry I have to run. Sunday. Early shift._

_Drop by Albion when you wake up from coma you are in. I will make you coffee._

Arthur felt giddy at the thought of Merlin writing to him, and still wanting to see him after the spectacle he had made of himself last night. Grinning, he looked up from the letter and found Gaius studying him thoughtfully.

"Umm..." He glanced between the cup and Gauis's face a couple of times, trying to decide how rude it would be to leave the cup of coffee , which both his body and his manners demanded that he drink, but suddenly the thought of drinking any beverage other than the one Merlin made for him was extremely unappealing.

"Don't try to spare my feelings son. It's obvious you want to go. Then go. I will drink the coffee." He smiled at him fatherly.

"Thank you!" Arthur exclaimed fervently and got up quickly, wanting to be near Merlin as soon as possible.

"By the way." Gaius said in low tone, but it was enough to stop Arthur dead in his track. He turned around to see him being the recipient of the sternest eyebrow and the most intense glare he had ever seen.

"If you hurt him, you will have to answer to me."

"I won't." Arthur said with conviction.

"Thank you." His expressions softened. "He is trusting to a fault. Never realizes when he is being played. So I have to look out for him."

"I understand. Thank you for looking out for him. You don't have to worry about me." He meant it. He was very glad there were people in Merlin's life that cared about him so much. He also felt slightly envious of him.

"I guess I will be seeing you around then." Gaius said dismissively.  He took the hint and left quickly with a mumbled goodbye.

* * *

Albion on a Sunday morning was pretty much like Albion on any other day, except a lot emptier, and quieter... and there was Arthur's pretty much favorite person in the world standing behind the counter.

His face split into a grin- full of teeth and teasing- when he saw Arthur enter the place.

"And so he lives. Thank the lords."

"Ugh! You are going to be insufferable about this aren't you?" Arthur moaned, as he went to the counter.

"You guessed it." If Merlin smiled any wider, Arthur was sure he was going to be asking the _you know how I got these scars?_ question soon. He proceeded to inform Merlin of this crucial deduction.

Merlin laughed, a giggle escaping his mouth, and his eyes squinting. It was ridiculous how cute Arthur found it, except his brain didn't agree with the fact that loud noise was acceptable, no matter how adorable. He winced.

"You my dear Prat! Need water. Plenty of water. Go grab a table, and I will bring it over soon." Merlin sobered up quickly, and even though the blond _hated_ it,he accepted that perhaps it was wise.

"Coffee! You promised me coffee." Arthur reminded him, before moving away from the counter.

Sitting down, he went over what Merlin had said, and felt himself blushing when he realized he had called him dear. Granted he had called him a prat too but it was nothing new, and Arthur liked to think it was a term of endearment anyway.

There was no one else in the shop and Merlin appeared quickly by his side, dragging a char and sitting on it. The screeching sound made him wince again and Merlin quickly apologized.

"Sorry! Sorry! Here, drink this water... all of it. Then you can have coffee."

Arthur hoped he wasn't pouting, but the expressions on Merlin's face told him he was hoping in vain. So he picked up the glass and drained it as quickly as he could. Putting it back down he looked at Merlin meaningfully. Chuckling, he slid over the cup of coffee.

Hot, steaming, mug of pure bliss. Arthur inhaled the aroma and moaned.

"Before your love affair with the coffee goes any further, here, have something to eat too. We don't serve breakfast and I can tell you haven't had any. But we do have strawberry banana muffins! and cookies!"

Arthur found himself reluctantly charmed- oh who was he kidding, he was very willingly charmed- by Merlin fussing over him. Morgana had always taken care of him when he was struggling but she didn't really know the definition of 'fussing'. It was very new, someone being overly concerned about his well being, and he found that he loved it.

"Thank you." He said with feeling, picking up a muffin and biting into it.

"No problem at all."

"I mean it. Thank you. For this, but specially for yesterday. It wasn't fair to spring all of my inner trauma on you and I am sorry."

"Hey..."

Suddenly feeling exhausted, he rubbed his eyes hard with palm of his hands, and continued before Merlin could make up his mind about what to say.

"I haven't broken down like this since the first time I lost a patient. Way to go Arthur! Crying in front of the man you had been crushing on for months, instead of asking him out on a date!" He laughed self deprecatingly.

"I would understand if you don't want anything to do with me after this." Arthur lowered his hands and looked at him, feeling another loss sting at his heart.

"Don't be a Prat!" Merlin snapped. "Also... who says that was not a date?"

"That? A date?" His incredulity made Merlin smile.

"I asked you if you wanted to go out for a drink. You said yes. Conclusion... it was date."

Arthur was surprised at the laugh that came out from his mouth.

 "That's an interesting distortion of the facts."

"Well! That's me.Nothing but interesting." He shrugged.

Arthur scoffed, but didn't bother replying. Instead he tried to concentrate on forcing himself not to make pornographic noises while sipping coffee.

A text alert shook him out of the comfortable silence. Arthur fished it out of his trouser pockets to find it was from Morgana,

_Dear brother,_

_Father understands yesterday was hard on you (he really doesn't), but he won't be pleased if you didn't find appropriate 'entertainment' for your ward come next Saturday._

Arthur had forgotten all about the stupid Saturday Day!Entertainment Day! crap. He slumped back into the seat and groaned.

"Any chance you know some clown who would perform for children in a hospital every Saturday?" He asked Merlin in sheer exasperation.

"Clown?"

"Or someone who does, you know? the hat and rabbit tricks and the wand waving?"

"A magician?"

"Yeah! Entertainment!"

"Mate! What are you even going on about?"

"Argh!" He let out an annoyed puff of air, "my father, who incidentally is also head of the hospital, wants me to find out a way to entertain children in my ward every Saturday, in some weird gesture of happy weekends or something."

"Oh!"

"Yeah!" Arthur rolled his eyes.

"That's awfully nice of him."

"Nice?" Arthur scoffed, "awful, sure... but it's anything but nice."

"Why not? No offense but hospitals can get a little ... deathly boring."

" I just don't understand the point. People go to hospitals to heal, people go to cinemas or parks or circus shows to have fun. Why ever would anyone want to mix the two?"

"Why ever not?" Merlin sounded curious but also slightly offended. "Okay listen, so you bared your soul out to me yesterday, I can return the gesture. My best friend, Will, has Thalassemia. I have known him since he was in his diapers, and he was always scared of going to hospitals... terrified actually. He always thought he would go there and never come back, so for a really long time I was convinced of it too. He took me with him whenever he went for transfusions, or got admitted when he got bad. So I have spent a lot of time in hospitals, looking at scared children and their equally terrified parents. It's depressing. So trying to make them less depressing... less like a symbol of death, is not a bad idea actually. Young Will would've liked that. I would've liked that too."

He had started the rant half annoyed, but the moment he had started talking about Will Arthur could see him soften up. By the end of it, he was barely whispering the words, sounding wistful and sad.

Arthur had never really thought about it from that perspective. To him it had sounded like a farce. But Merlin had made him think of it differently. Feeling bold, he moved forward and clasped Merlin's hand that was lying on the table in both of his, in a gesture mimicking the one he remembered Merlin doing for him last night.

"This Will? He is well right?"

Merlin looked up, his eyes had a thin sheen of fluid in them, making them look ethereal. He didn't look sad. He looked like someone who was reminded of a distant memory full of misery, but was glad it was just that. A memory. With no impact on the present.

"Yes. Yes he is." Merlin said, awed. "He is also a complete bastard and I dread the day you two meet."

The thought of meeting Merlin's best friend gave him butterflies in his stomach. Which reminded him of another of Merlin's family member he had already met.

"By the way. Thanks for warning me about how terrifying your uncle is." He said in mock sarcasm making Merlin snap out of the past with a laugh.

"Shut up!"

"Any way... so what do you think? I can't come up with any idea which doesn't sound half insane. What would be the appropriate thing to do to lighten up my damp and dreary ward?"

Merlin lightly slapped Arthur on his arm for his dramatic delivery of the last line, and appeared to think about it.

"What do you say to reading them stories?"

"What?" Arthur balked. "I am all in for making them feel better but I am _not_ reading them stories. Sorry."

When Merlin stared at him , appalled, he explained.

"I have a terrible reading voice... or more like, a very monotonous no emotions reading voice." He explained sheepishly.

"I very much doubt that," Merlin said with a smile, "but that wasn't what I was saying. I meant _me_ reading them stories. Not you."

"You?" Arthur goggled.

"Yes me. There is no need to be so surprised. I like reading aloud to people, I used to do that for Will when his hospital stays got too boring. "

"Oh."

"Also," Merlin seemed hesitant to say this last bit, "I write children stories sometimes."

Arthur was speechless for a while. Merlin sensed it and suddenly went on defensive.

"What! I am a literature student. It's part of my project."

While Arthur was sure that wasn't a lie, but there was more hiding there in the words than Merlin was saying.He remembered the numerous rows of children books in Merlin's shelf, which Arthur had assumed were from his childhood and that Merlin didn't like throwing books away, and saw them in a different light.Merlin liked writing children stories. He really really liked it, and maybe even wanted to follow that as a career in the future. Arthur suddenly felt overcome with pride and affection. Aspiring children story writer, was something that suited Merlin's personality perfectly.

Before Merlin could get even more offended and pull away, Arthur squeezed the hand he was still holding between his and said earnestly,

"That would be lovely."

Merlin seemed to relax after hearing that, but he was still far too withdrawn for Arthur's liking.

"I mean it. It's the best idea I have heard all week. I would love you if you could read to my children."

Merlin raised his eyebrow at that and Arthur reconsidered his words, flushing.

"You know what I mean."

"Okay! Yeah. I would like that too."

"So how about it. Saturday. 10 am sounds good?"

"Definitely. It's a date."

"No!" Arthur said in alarm. "No it's not."

"Yeah it is." Merlin grinned mischievously, "I hinted. You asked. I said yes. Conclusion... its a date."

Arthur let out a groan. This was going to be a disaster of a date. A second disaster of a date that is. He had a bad feeling about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am really sorry for posting so late, the next chapters probably won't be fast either. My hospital work is driving me crazy and i have crazy 12-18 hour shifts. Which leads to me having no time to write. At least its a long-ish chapter, so i hope thats a little bit of a consolation.  
> In other news, I suddenly have an idea for another Merthur story. God help me.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I had not planned this chapter. But thanx to cheerycherry, who told me she wished we knew more about Merlin's side, I couldn't stop thinking about this. So here it is..:D

When Arthur Pendragon first stepped into his coffee shop, Merlin decided two things. One, that he was a walking sin, with the blond hair and facial features that belonged on the front page of men's fashion magazines. Two, that he was a pompous asshole, with a superiority complex; his nose was held too high, his expressions constantly patronizing and he had a general annoyed-at-the-peasants persona.

Merlin hated arrogant bastards, no matter how good looking they were.

So he really wasn't sure how he ended up here. _Here ,_ where he felt giddy just because he was in the same room with the man he had sworn not to ever like.

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Arthur was not arrogant at all once you got to know him, he was insecure and scared and used confidence as a shield to protect himself. Or maybe because Arthur was caring, to a pathological degree, and was smart, and sensitive, and funny and stupidly endearing. He had eyes the shade of clear sky on a beautiful day, or a calm ocean, deceptively dangerous; his hair were sun kissed, and glowing; his jaw line perfect; his lips a sin in itself; his teeth  crooked,but gorgeously so, like a smudge of ink on a beautifully crafted painting, adding to the beauty of the complete picture by making it look more real.

God! Merlin was a sap.

When Arthur left after his promise of picking Merlin up from Albion on Saturday for their not-date, he slumped into the chair and put his head in his hands, mourning the stupidity of falling in love with Arthur Pratdragon-the biggest prat to ever prat.

Before he could drown himself in the sea of belated regret, he was startled by the sound of ringing telephone in the back room. Only one person ever called the Albion landline, and Merlin resigned himself to the inevitable teasing.

"Gauis." Merlin sighed into the receiver.

"Merlin! My boy." Came the cheerful greeting across the line.

"What do you want Gaius? You know I am working."

"Can't a man want to make sure his shop is still standing?"

"You mean MY shop, right?"

It was true. Merlin had grown up sitting on these tables, reading books and finishing home works for as long as he could remember. He had helped Gaius decorate the place over the years, his ideas slowly growing more and more eclectic for Gaius's tastes until he left the responsibility completely on Merlin. Somewhere along the way, Gaius even stopped coming into the shop except a couple of times a week, leaving most of the business on Merlin's shoulders, knowing he loved every minute of it.

"Anyway, why won't it be standing in the first place."

"I don't know. Young love. It can make strange things happen. Like fires in the shop, localized earth quakes, the usual."

"Gaius!!" Merlin protested, as he felt his face warm up.

"What? I don't get the right to rub it in my nephew's face when he is so clearly smitten?"

"I am not smitten."

"Says the man who couldn't stop blushing all morning just because he slept, and by that I mean literally slept, in the same bed as the guy he is smitten with."

"Can we please forget about this?"

"Not at all my dear. I have waited for this moment all of my life."

"You never gave me so much hell for all the other boys I brought home before Arthur."

"That's because I didn't like all those boys. Cendred Merlin. Really?"

He cringed at the reminder of that disaster. He had been so blinded by the outer glamour that it had taken a slap to his face, and the order to show his boyfriend more respect, to shake him out of it. Unfortunately Gaius had witnessed that whole scene and warned the asshole that if he ever approached Merlin again, they won't be able to find his body. Merlin wasn't sure if Gauis had been bluffing.

"Wait a minute, does that mean you _like_ Arthur?" Merlin had not expected that. He had been afraid that Gaius would see the superficial resemblance of Arthur with Cendred, in the fact that they were both handsome, rich, and proud- so what if Merlin had a type- and instantly dislike him.

"Your boyfriend is a very likeable man Merlin. Now get back to making sure you don't burn my shop to the ground while you are day dreaming. Goodbye my dear boy."

Before Merlin could protest about the fact that Arthur was not his boyfriend, he heard the phone click off.

 _Excellent start of the week_ , Merlin thought. But try as he might, his mild irritation and embarrassment could by no means hold back the rush of joy that was pouring out of him, engulfing him completely.

* * *

 

Monday was a strange day, that opened with Elyan clapping him on his back when he entered university and ask "Did you get laid mate?", and continued along those lines with his Professors calling him out on his absent mindedness, with varying degrees of pointed comments about where his thoughts were wandering. By the time his classes were over he had heard "Please play attention Mr.Emrys", and "Stop thinking about last night Emrys!" and all the variation thereof from teachers and friends alike, resulting in his ears being flaming red all day.

Albion was a blessing after all that.

"Merlin! Elyan texted me you got laid last night? I can't believe Arthur finally made his move... not that he shouldn't have, but I mean he seems so shy! No shy isn't the right word. I am sorry. You know what i mean." Gwen, whose shift was over and was waiting for Merlin to come take over started gushing over the moment she clapped his eyes on him.

Maybe calling Albion a blessing was a little too premature.

"I am offended that you didn't tell me Merlin. Weren't you supposed to share these kind of things with your girl best friends?" She pouted when Merlin continued to stare blankly with her.

"Nothing happened dear Gwen," he clasped both his hands on her shoulders and navigated her towards the door. "Elyan is just being a jerk."

"Tsk Tsk. You think so low of me? You think I can't read your face?"

"Honestly!" Merlin tried to look earnest but his lips were too bent on the idea of grinning, which did nothing to allay Gwen's doubts.

"I am letting it be for now because I want to give you space. But remember. I want to know everything later. EVERYTHING." She told him ominously before leaving.

A while later, in between customers and thinking about Arthur's stupid gorgeous plush lips that he had already kissed twice and couldn't process it properly, and wanted to do it again and again and again, Merlin didn't realize he had been zoning out for a while now.

There was someone clearing their throat very pointedly in front of him.

"Morgana." He startled.

"Finally stopped thinking about the other Pendragon, have you?"

Trying very hard not to blush, because it would give him away completely, he ignored the comment and asked,

"You will have the usual right?"

Because Morgana had become as regular a customer as Arthur, though he suspected Arthur would have a fit if he knew he and his sister conversed on regular basis.

"Yeah. But I will also have some answers."

He raised his eyebrow in his best imitation of Gauis.

Morgana let out a peal of laughter.

"Oh you little kitten! Stern doesn't suit you. What I want to know is...  what the hell have you done to my brother? Did you sleep with him?"

Merlin spluttered, no idea how to explain to her that yes he did sleep with Arthur, but he didn't _sleep_ with him. Fortunately, she didn't seem to need an answer, and cackled,

"I knew it! Finally. Thank you Merlin. But please do something about his smile. Its maniac and its scary... Oh for god's sake. You have an identical one plastered on your face. You boys are hopeless."

She took one look at Merlin's face, and moved away from the counter shaking her head, pointing towards her usual table indicating he should bring her coffee there.

Merlin could not, for the life of him, understand why people kept assuming he and Arthur had had sex. It was becoming kind of annoying, because he wished it had happened, so at least then the teasing would have a leg to stand on.

If he could see himself, when a couple of hours later Arthur entered the shop, could see how his face lit up and his eyes glazed over, and how his every pore seem to stand at attention for that royal prat, he would probably make the same assumption about himself that he had been criticizing everyone for all day.

* * *

 

Wednesday, Gwaine stormed in, his face ashen and worried.

"Merlin, something is wrong with Arthur. He called to ask me if I was okay, and wanted to hang out. He has _never_ done that before. What _happened_?"

Merlin, who had been reliving and remembering the moment he woke up in Arthur's arms, his breath warm over his neck, his arms wrapped tightly around him with almost no give, the rise and fall of his chest a peaceful rhythm against his back that had made him wish time could stop and he could stay here forever, looked at Gwaine in confusion when his thoughts were suddenly disrupted.

Gwaine took one look at his face, and let out an exasperated breath.

"Ofcourse, _you_ happened. Good for him. But a little warning would be nice the next time."

That's when he noticed Gwaine was already leaving.

"Hey! No coffee."

"I got what I came for thanks." He called back without turning.

* * *

 

Thursday, Arthur came in, drank a mocha latte (because no it wasn't a girly drink and Merlin was feeling all warm and chocolate-y himself so it fit perfectly), looked at Merlin with hearts in his eyes which were obvious to even Merlin, and no mention of the upcoming date was made. It was the most perfect day of the week.

* * *

 

His mom called on Friday. He was barely up, getting ready for his first class at 10:00 am, already running late, when his phone rang.

Alarmed to see Hunith's number, he stopped trying to shove his leg into the skinny jeans, and stood in his room, naked from waist down except for boxers, and picked up the phone.

"Mum! Is everything alright?"

"Is everything all right he asks. Is it Merlin?" Her voice sounded wet with un-shed tears and Merlin felt like someone had gripped his heart tight into a fist.

"What's wrong Mum?"

"Why didn't you tell me about Arthur sweetheart?" She sounded so upset about it that Merlin didn't know whether to laugh or apologize.

"What?"

"I had to hear it from your uncle! Do you know what that felt like?"

"Mum! There is nothing to tell. We haven't even gone out on a date."

"That doesn't matter to me. Do you care about him?"

"Yes." He could not lie to his mother, and neither did he want to.

"Does he care about you?"

"Yes. I mean I think so."

"Do you love him?"

Merlin fell quiet at the question. He knew he was falling in love with Arthur, but was he already in love? He discovered the answer was yes. Yes he did.

"Fuck me! I do."

"Language Merlin."

"Sorry."

"He sounds like a good man," Hunith's voice was wet again, "you will bring him to meet me right?"

"How can I not Mum." He would promise her anything if it meant the hurt from her voice would go away.

"I love you. Stay happy."

"Love you too." He said earnestly.

* * *

When Saturday finally _, finally_ arrived... Merlin couldn't decide if it had been the longest week of his life, which had made him a changed man, or if it had passed in a blink. Anyway, he didn't have any brain cells left to actually worry about time and its fickle nature; he was too busy freaking out about what to _wear_.

It was a date. He had made sure Arthur knew it was a date. What did one wear to dates to hospital, to children's ward? Whether he should dress for the children or for Arthur?

He stood in front of his wardrobe, with clothes stuffed inside it with no organization or folding of any sort, and sifted through them. When that didn't work he pulled them all out of the cupboard and threw them on the ground and picked them up one by one and examined them. They were all _normal_ clothes. Were you supposed to just wear normal clothes to dates?

Deciding that he needed back-up, he pulled out his phone and called Gwen (because he decided that he would have to be suicidal to call Will for dating clothes advice).

"Gwen. Sweet beautiful Gwen. You are a blessing for all of earth." He said in lieu of greeting.

"What do you need Merlin?" Gwen was all faux exasperation, because Merlin could always hear the fondness and the laughter in her voice.

"Ihaveadatewitharthurandidontknowwhattowear."

"Pardon?"

"I have a date, um, with Arthur, and I don't know what to wear,"he could feel the tips of his ears getting red.

"Aha!... I knew it..."

"Its the _first_ date."

"Whatever you say Merlin... So, you need to impress Arthur? There is a slight problem though."

"Problem?" His heart sank. Maybe he could never look impressive enough.

"Yes. Problem. The problem is, Arthur is already bloody impressed by you." Gwen laughed.

"Gwen please. Be serious. I am very confused here!"

"Okay. Calm down and tell me what type of clothes do you want to wear?"

"Type?"

"Yeah. The type you want him to rip off of you the moment he sees you, or the type ... hmmm... I can't think of any other choice. No worries."

He groaned which made her break out in laughter. She was really enjoying this.Gwen was evil. How had he never known that before. But beggars can't be choosers.

"Sorry sorry. It's just too good of an opportunity to miss." She said, suppressing her laughter.

"I would hang up on you if I didn't need your help." He moaned.

"Don't be an ass Merls. Let's see. You should go with blue. T-shirt. You have one?"

"Yeah..." Merlin rummaged in the pile in front of him and took out the newest shirt he had and examined it. It was blue with 'Dragons are real' written in front of it in bold red colors. Could have been worse, he thought. He didn't tell Gwen about that though.

"Okay you need a button down over shirt on top of it. Plaid. Anything in white and blue, or white and black. Wear it open."

He found one in white and red. But it matched with the writing on his t-shirt so he decided it was all good.

"Done."

"Use any jeans with it, black or blue, and you are set."

"Thanks Gwen. You are a life saver."

"If that's all..."

"No, no, no. Wait wait! Shoes Gwen! What shoes should I wear?"

"How many pair of shoes do you have Merlin?" She asked, not even bothering to hide her amusement.

"Three?" He said, unsure.

"Yes. Three. You have a pair of dress shoes, that definitely can't go with this outfit. You have a pair of runners that are a no too. So only thing left is the sneakers. Wear those. Now... I don't think you remember but Albion doesn't run by itself. I need to go. Bye Merlin."

"Bye Gwen..."

"Good luck. Get laid. Tell me all about it later."

He heard the click, which signaled she had ended the call before he could respond.

He looked at the clothes he had put on the bed, and decided to get ready. He didn't want to be late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know. I know. This took forever. But just 2 or 3 more chapters to go.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first story mentioned is "the littlest prince" by Kayti Mayfield. I debated whether to write it in full here or not and like... i almost did, but then didn't. It's entertaining and very Merlin, so if you want to read it, here it is.  
> http://kaytimayfield.weebly.com/uploads/1/8/9/5/18953751/the_littlest_knight.pdf  
> .  
> I am pretty happy with the Princess story I wrote. Please let me know what you think :D

_"Once Upon a Time, in a land called Frozenia, there stood a grand castle on a hill. Though the castle was majestic, it was always very drafty and cold. The King and Queen always wore thick furs and heavy coats, even in summertime._

_On another hill there lived a fierce Dragon. Every night he breathed fire and roared so loudly that nobody in the kingdom could ever get any sleep."_

Merlin looked up from his book to see the children listening in rapt attention, and inwardly pleased, went on to read the half memorized story, telling a tale about a dragon who was lonely and wanted to play, and how many knights tried to defeat him but in the end it was the littlest and the unbravest knight who went to the dragon, played with him, and brought him back to the castle to keep it warm and be its friend and saved the day _._

He really did love reading to children, they were the best audience, and the most expressive. Their gasps and awes delighted him. The little stolen glances at Arthur told him he was enjoying it too. Whether he was amused at the story, or at expense of Merlin was another story, but he would never ever begrudge anything that made Arthur smile like that though.

_"So the littlest and unbravest knight and his friend the Dragon played in the basement every day, and they lived Happily Ever After."_

* * *

Arthur couldn't stop staring at Merlin, the way his eyes lit up when he told the story, the way he talked in a little boy voice when telling the littlest knight's dialogues and the way his voice was a growl when it was the dragon's words his lips spoke. He was an amazing story teller and had entranced the audience, Arthur included.

He couldn't even believe now how nervous he had felt in the morning, how long it had taken to decide what to wear, how he had been scared and half sure that Merlin won't be there when he went to Albion, that it would be a joke. All of those doubts and insecurities disappeared when he spotted Merlin, in a shirt proclaiming the reality of dragon, waiting for him, looking as anxious as he felt.

His heart swelled with fondness and something dangerously resembling love, when he glanced at Merlin's shirt again. Why would he own such a shirt was a mystery, but it fit him, the way it would fit nobody else. The children had instantly taken to it, which had led to Merlin starting out with this story, book open in his hand but reading from memory, bewitching everyone.

After he finished reading, a young boy- the gastroenteritis patient, Arthur recalled- raised his hand, like they were in class, which startled Merlin, but he pretended to be unfazed and nodded.

"What is the littlest Knight's name?" he asked, in a shy voice.

"What is your name?" Merlin smiled at him, which made him blush.

"Fred."

"Do you believe in dragon's Fred?"

He nodded vehemently.

"And thus it was decreed, that the littlest Knight's name would forever be Fred." Merlin declared, in his story telling voice.

They were sitting in the ward, with the sickest patients still on beds while others on chairs that had been dragged from the doctor's lounge. At Merlin's decree, everyone started muttering among themselves, complaining about how it was unfair it was that Fred gets to be a knight and they don't.

One of the youngest in the group, a 6 year old boy, piped up. "I want to be a Knight too."

Merlin grinned like this was exactly what he had been hoping for.

"And what kind of a Knight do you want to be?" He asked.

"A brave one, one that fights with swords."

Merlin rummaged in his bag, pulling out the collection of Stories of King Arthur's Knights, by Mary McGregor, glancing towards Arthur and winking.

"So, what is your name little one?" He asked.

And thus started a round of stories, everyone asking for a specific kind of a knight, and Merlin modifying and sometimes bastardizing the story to fit their name and their specified character trait. Everyone wanted Merlin's attention and Arthur was starting to find himself kind of jealous, which he realized was a stupid thought. In order to distract himself, to stop staring at Merlin's moving lips and the sounds he was making, and the delight on his face, because if he kept looking anymore he would be forced to traumatize the children by kissing Merlin right there and then, Arthur looked around.

All the children were held enchanted in the story, hanging onto their story teller's every word. All of them, except one.

Arthur felt someone squeeze his heart at the look of pure agony he saw there, and he knew it wasn't because she was sick. There are many different kinds of pain.

Annabelle. She was 12, and had Restrictive Cardiomyopathy. A few nucleotides placed wrong when her DNA was being made, and she ended up with a heart that was weak, and would always be weak. Her mother said she loved to play, but couldn't because she would get breathless very soon, and had fainting spells, so she stopped playing, stopped going out of the house, stopped making friends.

She was admitted in the hospital for a mere cold, because if your heart was weak, you can't even stand small exertions like coughing.

Arthur was a doctor, he understood what the disease was, what were the symptoms , the prognosis, and the also knew, without any doubt, that he could never even hope to understand what suffering through it felt like.

When Merlin finished his story about the great Knight Howard, Arthur wasn't even looking at him; he was looking at Annabelle, who scoffed, and got up from her chair and started walking out of the room.

"Sweetheart", Merlin called out, "I could tell a story about a brave and strong lady too if you are bored. Don't let the boys steal all the thunder."

Arthur inwardly cringed. It was the worst thing he could've said at the moment, but he had no idea. Annabelle turned her head, and looked at Merlin with venom in her eyes.

"What about the not-brave and not-strong ladies? They don't get their stories do they? I am sorry but I am not worth your words."

The hurt her words caused was obvious to everyone, and a hushed silence fell across the ward. Merlin looked at Arthur with confusion evident on his face, along with a unhealthy amount of regret. Arthur quickly got up, and took Annabelle's file off of her bed and thrust it in Merlin's hands. A look of dawning understanding passed over his face, and he glanced up to see Annabelle had stopped staring at him, and started moving out of the door again.

"Who wants to hear a story about a Princess with a damaged heart?" Merlin asked out aloud, not looking towards the door, pretending the last 5 minutes didn't happen.

When nobody answered, still shocked by what had happened, Arthur spoke up.

"That sounds like a wonderful story Merlin, I am sure everyone would love to listen to it."

Both of them pointedly did not acknowledge the fact that Annabelle had stopped dead in her tracks, back turned, but very obviously listening.

So Merlin started,

_There once was a beautiful Kingdom whose name no one remembers anymore, because it got lost in time, and shrouded in myths. But the kingdom itself, nobody ever forgot about it, or about a particular legend associated with it._

_Because once upon a time there was a beautiful Kingdom, and in that beautiful Kingdom lived many many brave and mighty Warriors and Knights. It was lush green, with flowing rivers, and trees full of fruits, and many unique and amazing animals. There was no scarcity of anything in the Kingdom, and everyone who ever saw it, envied it._

_In a small room, in a big magnificent castle, there also lived a little Princess. Anna was her name. Remember her, because she is very important to the tale of this Kingdom with the lost name._

_Anna, had a damaged heart since birth. She could not horse ride like her brothers, or wield a sword like her cousins, neither could she run or play like the Knights. Nobody wanted to be her friend because everyone thought she was a weakling._

_"She is so stupid." One of the little Knights said, when she fell down on the ground after challenging them to a race. She had run fast, but not long._

_"Stupid Princess with her stupid heart." Another scoffed at her._

_"Even her own heart does not like her, why should we?"They said, and left, leaving Anna lying on the ground, catching her breath and hiding her tears._

Merlin's voice clogged up, and he cleared her throat, looking at everyone but the one person who mattered. Arthur though, couldn't resist glancing at her, finding her staring at Merlin with wide eyes brimmed with tears, transfixed.

_But as it always happens, bad times are never too far away. The brave knights that the kingdom boasted about, ventured too far into the forest during their hunt, and stumbled upon a rare and ancient creature._

_A Unicorn._

_Now kids, Unicorns are something sacred. They are made by pure magic, and little did the Knights know that this special Unicorn was the very reason the Kingdom was so prosperous. They saw the beautiful creature and instantly wanted to show it to their King, to gain his respect and awe. So they shot it with an arrow, and killed it dead._

He paused here for dramatic effect, staring at the horror stuck faces of every child in the room.

_Killing the Unicorn, triggered ancient magic, and right in front of their eyes, a fairy appeared, terrifying in her beauty, fearsome in her wrath._

_"What have you done?" She whispered in misery, bending down and trying to stop the silver blood flowing into the ground._

_"We did what we had to. The King would reward us greatly for this." The leader of the Kinghts said proudly._

_"You will regret it," the fairy warned, "tell your king that great misfortune is about to befall his kingdom because of your thoughtless act."_

_"Are you threatening us?" as one they drew out their swords._

_"No! I am warning you." She said, fierce but compassionate."I am telling you so you can tell your King that only the most strongest and purest of hearts can save your Kingdom from its doom. Heed my words Knights, or you will all despair."_

_With that she vanished, taking along with her the Unicorn._

_The Knights, when got back to the castle, relayed to story to the King, who did not think much of it. But soon afterwards, the fairy's words started proving true. The river started drying, until there wasn't enough water to drink, let alone to water the plants. The plants died, the trees stopped giving fruit, the animals withered away, and great misery engulfed the Kingdom whose name no one remembers._

_The King convened the meeting of the bravest souls in the place, and sent his men, one after another, into the forest. The strongest of men and women ventured into the forest, never to be heard of again. The fairy had demanded the strongest of hearts, and soon there were no more men to be sent out that even remotely fit the category._

_Now kids, remember Princess Anna, the girl with the weakest heart in Kingdom? I told you to remember her._

Merlin waited for all the kids to nod.

_She saw what was happening to the Kingdom and despaired. She had a damaged heart, but she couldn't see her people suffering. So she went to her father one night and said,_

_"Father, let me go to the forest."_

_"No my child!" the King protested. "I have lost so much, I can't lose you too. And your heart is so weak. This would be useless."_

_"I know," Anna whispered, her eyes wet, "But I have to do something Father. Please. This is the only thing I would ever ask of you."_

_With a heavy heart, the King allowed her to go to the Forest. Feeling small and very very frightened, little Princess stepped into the forest, and let her heart lead her where it would, and followed it deep into the trees. Suddenly she came across a meadow, ethereal in its beauty. In the middle of it was a Unicorn, injured, with something in its paws. She rushed forward and caressed the beautiful mane of the beautiful animal, and slowly pulled the thorn out of its paws. She kept stroking its mane, marveling its beauty, and almost forgot about what she came here for._

_Suddenly she heard someone speak her name from behind her. She whipped around to see a fairy, the one everyone had described as frightening, but all she saw in her was kindness and love._

_She cried, "Save my Kingdom, please."_

_When the fairy said nothing she fell on her knees and clasped her hands in front of her, and begged,_

_"I know I don't have a strong heart. It's weak and damaged, I was born with it. But it's yours, take it, but spare my people. They have harmed no one."_

_Through her veil of tears, she saw the fairy drop down on her knees too, and wrap her in her arms._

_"You brave brave girl." She whispered. "The curse is lifted, because you have a heart that is as pure as that of the unicorn they killed, and as strong as the magic it contains."_

_"No! You are mistaken..." Anna protested._

_The fairy cupped her face in her hands, and told her a secret,_

_"The strength of a heart is not about how good you can fight or run. It's not about how good it beats. It's about what makes it beat. What makes it strong is what's inside it, and your heart is full of nothing but love. And darling, there isn't anything more powerful than love in all the worlds."_

_So because of the Girl with a damaged heart, the Kingdom was saved. The rivers flowed once more,the trees were alive, and the animals never left again. The Kingdom stayed strong for many decades to come, and then faded into time, got shrouded in myths. Not much is remembered about the Kingdom, not even it's name. But when people recall the story, the call it the Kingdom of Anna._

Nobody spoke a word when Merlin finished his story. Then little footsteps echoed in the room, until Annabelle came to stand in front of Merlin, her face level with Merlin, who was sitting on a low stool. She extended her hand and rubbed it across Merlin's cheek, which Arthur was startled to notice were wet with a trail of tears, and then lunged forward and collapsed into his arms, sobbing. Merlin tightened his arms around her, running one of his hands through her hair, rubbing her back, till she stopped shaking. Then he slowly separated her until she stood in front of him and smiled at her, his blue eyes full of understanding and love.

"Do you know what Anna's full name was?" He asked her in a conspiratorial whisper.

To Arthur's surprise, she nodded.

"So what was it?"

"Annabelle." She replied in a awed voice.

"That's right." His grin was more mischief and fondness than old aching pain now, and the little girl grinned in response and skipped back to her seat.

Merlin was about to start asking for another story request but Arthur knew he couldn't wait another minute. So he got up and told the kids that Merlin would be back next week, but he has to go now. The kids and his date both groaned in response, which made the corners of his lips twitch, but he would not give in to it.

He held out his hand for Merlin, who after looking at him for a moment with a  _holding hands? Really?_  expression, extended his and laced their fingers together. Together they walked out of the ward, the children oblivious to the very rare PDA Arthur was indulging himself in.

When they passed the supply closet , Arthur shoved Merlin inside and followed.

"Real class Arthur, first holding hands and now making out in a closet? One would think we are in high school, not hospital." Merlin teased.

"Shut up." He groaned, and then moved forward and hugged Merlin.

"Wha..." Merlin seemed shocked. Surely he was expecting something else. A kiss definitely seemed more appropriate in the situation.

But Arthur had been wanting to feel Merlin pressed tightly against his chest the moment he saw his ridiculous shirt in the morning, and with every story Merlin read out loud, Arthur's insides wound up tighter and tighter, knowing the only way they would untangle would be hugging Merlin.

So he did exactly that.

He put his head on Merlin's shoulder and tightened his arms , taking long deep breaths, feeling like he could breathe for the first time in the whole day. Overcoming his initial shock, Merlin also raised his arms and started rubbing Arthur's back, much like he had done for Annabelle. That made him hide his face in his beautiful/gorgeous/amazing date's shoulder and smile.

After Arthur let go of him, God knows how much time later-it could have been hours, could have been mere seconds- there was no judgement in Merlin's eyes. Only incredible amount of love.

 _I love you_ , his mind screamed at him to say it, but he knew it was too soon, knew it would scare Merlin away. So instead he said,

"I loved your story."

"I know." Merlin lips said, but his eyes told him that he knew exactly what Arthur had wanted to say, and that he returned the sentiment wholeheartedly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one more chapter and then epilogue, I think. I have some ideas about next chapter but like... ugh... not much. No plan. If anyone want some specific scene or idea written i am very open to them :D


	12. Chapter 12

Arthur was sipping his 2nd cup of coffee, sitting in a corner spot in Albion, with a clear view of Merlin. They had wandered around after their hospital "date", walking aimlessly through the pathways until Merlin's stomach had let out a grumbling sound, asking for food, immediately. He had looked so embarrassed that Arthur couldn't stop laughing for the next five minutes, throwing his head back and howling when Merlin had covered his stomach protectively with one hand and rubbed it, as if calming a scared child.

They had eaten fish and chips at a quiet outdoor setting, feeling so domestic and at home that the thought still gave Arthur butterflies in his stomach. While walking back to Albion, somewhere along the way Arthur hand had ended up entwined with Merlin's and he moved rather stiffly after realizing it, dreading the moment Merlin would figure it out and pull away.

He did no such thing.

When they reached the door, Merlin had raised their joined hands, and eyes twinkling with mischief- as if he knew exactly what had been going on inside Arthur's head for the last ten minutes- pressed his lips to Arthur's knuckles. Arthur gasped, which made Merlin smile against his hand.

"Time for my shift, sadly."

"I know," it was too soon, too fast for it to be over already.

"You can stay for a little while, that is , if you want... I will be busy, so it's stupid and you probably shouldn't stay, but you could, if you wanted to. Just saying..."

Merlin was babbling, and Arthur did the only thing he could think of. He squeezed the hand holding Merlin's and said,

"Yes."

And so here he was, 2 hours later, staring at Merlin, and wanting. Every few minutes Merlin glanced his way, and always finding his eyes trained on him. He had come over with his coffee twice, without any prompting from Arthur, making Arthur realize that yes, he had been wanting coffee without noticing... but apparently Merlin noticed.

Merlin was beautiful to observe. He was unfailingly kind to the elderly, endearingly playful to kids, bumping fists and treating them like little adults, and -what made Arthur's pulse jump every time- untiringly courteous to the people his age. Arthur felt a stab of jealousy at every smile he passed to someone gorgeous, until Merlin turned around and caught Arthur's eye, sometimes just smiling teasingly, sometimes winking-like he could read Arthur like a book- making Arthur realize that there were smiles and then there was  The Smile, the one with a capital T and a capital S, the one reserved for Arthur.

He was also adorably clumsy, never spilling hot coffee - because he was careful, visibly so- but dropping spoons, and cups, and bumping his elbows on corners and with things in a way that was bound to hurt and that he barely noticed most of the times which confirmed that he was used to it. He wrinkled his forehead sometimes, and scrunched his nose when something was taking more time than usual, and played with his sleeve when waiting between customers. In short, he was captivating.

When the customer Merlin was dealing with at the moment left, and there was not another one in line currently, Merlin strode over to Arthur's spot in quick strides.

"You need to stop doing that." He hissed, sitting in the seat opposite from him and bending forward.

"Stop doing what?" Arthur asked, puzzled.

"Looking at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like... like you want to eat me or something. You can't. You will get indigestion." His ears had gone pink halfway through the rant. Unconsciously Arthur licked his lips.

"That! That right there! Stop this or leave." he begged.

"I have no idea what you are talking about Merlin," he relaxed his posture and drew back, resting his back on the seat rest and opening his legs a little, "I am just sitting here enjoying my coffee and the ... view."

Merlin groaned.

"You are being an arse, that's what you're doing."

"So... we are back to insults now are we... clumsy ninja"

"What did you just call me?"

"There is a android game, you should check it out. I think you will identify with the character."

Merlin's eyes looked like they will pop out.

"You play mobile games?"

"Yes... I am not a robot you know."

"Could've fooled me." He mumbled. "Anyway, I just came over to say, please... _Please_ stop distracting me."

"And how do you propose I do that?"

The doorbell chirped at that moment and Merlin got up from the seat, but not before biting back.

"Stop being you."

The rest of the evening passed much in the same way, with Merlin coming over to bring snacks, or more coffee, sometimes brushing Arthur's fingers, and once ruffling Arthur's hair, making him squawk indignantly, and before he knew it... Arthur had been sitting through all of Merlin's shift. He couldn't remember the last time he had sat idle for a full 6 hours without getting antsy. The view helped he guessed, because there was sitting idle, and then there was observing Merlin. One was infinitely better than the other.

When a young petite girl with golden hair entered the shop, and went behind the counter ,Merlin motioned Arthur to come join him, as he went to the back room to take off his Apron.

"That was Drea. I am a free man now." He said, stretching, both palms on the back of his head, cracking his spine.

"Finally." Arthur grumbled, in fake impatience.

"Nobody asked you to stay."

"In fact, I distinctly remember someone asking me to stay around for a while."

"Exactly... a while. You didn't have to stay for so long." He was teasing but there was a genuine worry in his voice.

"Merlin?"

"I am being an idiot again, aren't i?"

"Precisely."

They walked out of the coffee shop, finding each others hand... bantering. There was no other word for what they did... playfully exchanging insults and smiling dopily with each one.

"So..." Arthur started

"So?"

"Where to now?"

"Well," Merlin started, " you could walk me home, it's not that far, or we could go see a movie. I still haven't seen Kingsman and I know for a fact that it's playing tonight. Because let's face it... Colin Firth."

"You are right."

"I usually am, but what about now?"

"About the fact that Colin Firth beats all arguments."

"He does doesn't he... like fine wine, gets better and better with age." Merlin sighed happily.

"There is also another thing..."

"What is that?"

"I am not ready for the date to be over just yet." Arthur admitted, sure that his neck was red, and Merlin squeezed his hand and grinned.

"And here you weren't even willing to call it a date... admit it, you were wrong."

"I most definitely won't do that."

"Righhhttt... because admitting mistake would totally ruin your I-am-awesome-and-I-don't-make-mistakes image after all."

"Do you _ever_ shut up?"

"Nope."

"Not even when you are sleeping?"

"I have been told I talk in my sleep." Merlin admitted with pride.

"I seriously should be more surprised than I am right now."

"That just means I am growing on you."

"Yes... Like a fungus."

They got on a bus, stood near the door for two stops, got off , and were standing in front of the ticket counter in the cinema, still bantering... insulting each other even though they had completely forgotten what the initial debate started from. It went on until Arthur couldn't take it anymore and he just grabbed Merlin's head and crashed their lips together, devouring Merlin's moan in a quick but thorough kiss, and pulled back to buy tickets.

They got tickets and a large buttered popcorn, and made their way towards the theatre. It took that long for Arthur to stop reeling from the kiss, and realize the fact that Merlin had not spoken a word since then. Panic started to creep in, and Arthur turned to look at Merlin, ready to apologize if he had offended him somehow, but was stopped short at the look on Merlin's face. He had a manic looking smile plastered on his face, and his eyes were far away... it was a miracle he had not bumped into something because he most definitely wasn't seeing ahead, and his index finger kept rubbing his lower lip every few moments, making the smile turn bigger with every swipe.

Arthur grinned.

"If I knew that that's all it took to make you shut up, I would've used this trick more often." Arthur's voice shook the dazed man out of his reverie. His eyes shot up and met the blond's, and then with a sudden jerk he dropped the hand that was still touching his lips, and his ears and cheeks turned beat red.

"Prat." He mumbled, staring resolutely at the ground, until Arthur chuckled and started walking again.

Merlin was a bundle of excited energy when they sat down Merlin in the corner seat somewhere in the middle of the theatre, Arthur to his right. Before the movie even started, people in the front and back rows had started giving him annoyed looks , because he kept babbling stuff like " _Oh my God, I have been looking forward to this for ages,_ " and " _Colin Firth in bespoke suit will be the death of me_."

Particularly notable was the time when the trailer of Crimson Peak came on, and Merlin practically made dying whale noises. Arthur was too mesmerized by Tom Hiddleston being incredibly, unfairly sexy, and too amused at Merlin's reaction, to think up an appropriately scathing comment.

If Merlin kept on like this... this was going to be a problem. So when Colin Firth first appeared on screen with the memorable word of "Shit", and Merlin's fidgeting reached dangerous level, Arthur did the only thing he could think of...

He put his hand on Merlin's thigh.

Merlin froze. It was the reaction he had been hoping for, but not for this exact reason. Regardless, still Merlin was still Merlin, no matter what the cause, so after lightly squeezing his thigh, he moved his hand back. The amount of reluctance he felt in moving his hand the scant few inches back to his own thigh was surprising to even Arthur.

When Colin's character said "With respect Arthur, you are a snob." Merlin snickered so loudly that half the people in the room shot him a disgruntled look, but he just giggled, mouthing "Snob" at Arthur, who despite himself, grinned.

To be honest, the movie was endlessly entertaining, because the Merlin in it was hot as hell, much like the Merlin by his side, and Arthur was indeed, a snob. Merlin's- the one with blue eyes that was sitting next to him- infatuation with Colin Firth was as evident as it was endearing, and every time he showed up on screen, there was restlessness in him that he couldn't suppress. Only thing that helped really, was when Arthur put his hand on his thigh again.

At the scene where Colin Firth, _Harry_ , shows off how badass he is exactly and teaches the street thugs a lesson, Merlin gasped and almost stood up, which lead to Arthur's hand back on his thigh, and this time he left it there.

Which subsequently meant that Arthur did not understand a word of the movie from then onwards. The cloth underneath his palm was rough denim, and he felt like he had suddenly grown a thousand more nerve endings on the underside of his hand, because there was no other logical reason to be able to feel what he was feeling. He could feel the warmth of Merlin's skin below the cloth, seeping through. There was slight pulsation of the arteries throbbing in time with Merlin's heartbeat, and technically he shouldn't be able to feel it, not without putting his fingers in exactly the right place, but he could swear on everything that was important to him, that he could; he could feel it, and it felt incredible. What was even worse was the tightening of the muscles when Merlin tensed them unconsciously, just as Arthur had unconsciously moved his thumb slowly to stroke the leg. Worse, but so so much better.

So he did it again.

Moved his thumb, very very slowly. Left, Right, Left, Right. Gentle, soft movements over the denim clad thigh : hardly inappropriate, but it felt so very intimate, so sexual. Merlin could feel it too, Arthur was sure, as he noticed Merlin's breathing turned heavy, and hitch sometimes when Arthur's hand crept a little more to the left, his thumb practically brushing Merlin's inner thigh on every left stroke. He wanted to hear the hitch in breath again; he wanted Merlin to gasp, to moan. It was scandalous to do that , to want that, in a cinema full of people, but he didn't care. So he continued, moving his hand so that his thumb was continuously moving on Merlin's soft, sensitive inner thigh (not that he could feel it, all he could feel was the damn denim, but in his head there was no barrier between his fingers and Merlin's leg), occasionally squeezing the muscles with his hand.

He didn't even notice anything that happened in the movie after that, but neither did he ever look at Merlin's face. They both stared ahead, at the screen, but all they could see, hear, feel, _breathe,_ was a hand, on a thigh, rubbing incessantly, deliberately... intimately.

When the movie finished, neither of them got up, as everyone else listlessly moved out of the room, until it was just the two of them sitting alone. That was when Arthur turned his face towards Merlin, and lost even the little bit of control he still possessed at the sight. Merlin's eyes were wide, and if he could see his pupils he was sure they would be dilated. His breath was coming out in pants, laboured, and he was slightly trembling, flushed all over, his lips bitten raw to keep the gasps in. If he looked down , Arthur was sure he would find that Merlin was hard, just like he was sure he would find a similar situation in his own lap. His hand was still on Merlin's thigh.

"Yeah." It was Merlin who broke the silence, his voice throaty, which sent another strong pang of want to Arthur's groin.

"Yeah." Arthur echoed.

"What now?" Merlin asked, his voice, like his frame, was slightly shaking.

"I don't know." Arthur knew he sounded breathless and dazed, and he didn't give a shit.

"Walk me home?" Merlin asked.

"Walk? That's two bus stops away isn't it?"

"We could both do with some fresh air, don't you think?" Merlin was sounding more like himself with every sentence... some of the desperate intensity of the situation seeping out of him.

"Yeah. Yeah you are right."

"Oh and Arthur?"

"Hm?"

"Please take your hand away if you don't want me to jump you here this second. Like, take it away right now."

This was finally what made Arthur glance down at his hand where it was resting all proprietary and possessive, and then at Merlin. He raised his one eyebrow.

Merlin burst out into laughter, causing last of the charged intensity to bleed out of the room, and slapped Arthur hand with his own.

"Off!" He said in a breathless laughter.

"Yes Your Highness!" Sighing dramatically he raised his hand, and fingers wide open, waved it in front of Merlin, as if to show him it was off. Merlin slapped it again.

"Thank you. And that's my line! You don't get to call me Your Highness."

"As you say Your Highness." Arthur said, just to be contrary, and stood up. He had to grimace, and adjust himself in the trousers, making Merlin grin, which turned into a grimace of his own when he got to his feet.

"Shall we?" Arthur asked, offering his elbow to Merlin ostentatiously.

"Definitely." Merlin agreed, linking their arms together, and together they walked out into the cold night air, Merlin leaning heavily against Arthur, his head resting on Arthur's shoulder after he had disentangled their arms and had wrapped his arm against Merlin's waist instead.

"Home?" Arthur asked.

"Home." Merlin said in a happy sigh, and Arthur wasn't sure if he meant the destination, or their current situation, because honestly, this felt like home to Arthur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry doesn't even begin to cover it. Stuff came up, got incredibly busy and went days without sleep, days without food, life turned to shit for a little while, I saw a couple of deaths and hated my profession, managed a serious patient dying in front of my eyes as i helplessly delayed her death and increased her torture, learned to enjoy healing people a bit, and most importantly... completely forgot how much I enjoyed writing these two idiots. The kinda write themself. I know its probably not worth the wait, but if any of you are still reading this... I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Just one more chapter to go. And then a short epilogue. Hopefully it would be all done within this week. Wish me luck. And leave comments... I live for those. Seriously.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And Merlin and Arthur finally sleep "Sleep" together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: SMUT.   
> I don't think anyone would mind smut here but like... warning for smut. Also apologies for smut, because its my first time omg. It's not very graphic though... hopefully... I have become desensitized to what is graphic and what isn't.

The fresh air, and the chill, made the arousal that was boiling in Arthur's veins just minutes ago simmer down to a low thrum, but that didn't mean it vanished completely. The fact that Merlin was basically plastered to his side, and he could feel the heat radiating from him did not help the matters in the slightest.

This was going to be a really long walk.

They walked slowly in a comfortable silence, which was new for Arthur. He had never been comfortable in silence before, not with anyone around, always itching to fill it with meaningless chatter; but with Merlin, the quiet felt right. It felt intimate.

Arthur had just begun thinking along those lines when Merlin broke the silence with what sounded suspiciously like a giggle. He ignored it, but it happened again a few moments later, forcing Arthur to turn his head and raise his eyebrows at Merlin.

"You realize that...," Merlin stopped in between to stifle another laugh, "You realize that we would need to watch that movie again don't you?"

Arthur couldn't help but chuckle at that. Yes! They would need to.

"-because I don't know about you but I don't remember anything in it except Colin Firth being a sin in those suits." Merlin sighs happily.

"I don't know... I distinctly remember a really hot Merlin in it, with that accent... damn." Arthur returns playfully.

"Oh yes. Merlin." Saying his own name in such a yearning tone is just downright creepy... and Arthur told him so. He didn't mention that he wanted Merlin to say _his_ name like that instead.

But Merlin won't be Merlin if he couldn't read Arthur like an open book, so he raised his one eyebrow, in a way that reminded Arthur frighteningly of Gaius, and said,

"You just wish you were named Galahad, instead of Arthur."

Arthur couldn't disagree with that. They continued walking, mostly in silence but sometimes interrupting it to talk about random things that popped into their minds. Arthur told Merlin about some of the adorable kids that came to him, and about growing up without a Mom, and Uther as a father. Merlin told him about Hunith, and the love that oozed out of every word said about her made Arthur feel slightly envious of Merlin's childhood.

Before they knew it _\- too soon, too soon,_ Arthur's mind screamed at him- they neared Merlin's apartment building. They stood in front of it, and Arthur wondered if he should kiss Merlin goodbye, when Merlin broke the stand still,

"Want to come up for a cup of coffee?" He said in a rush.

"Don't you think I have had enough coffee to last me a week today?" Arthur said before he could think any better, and he was sure he wasn't imagining Merlin's face fall a bit. Well, they couldn't have that,could they? "What about beer instead?"

Merlin's face lit up again, and he nodded hastily, but before he could start towards the door, Arthur suddenly remembered something.

"Um... What about Gaius?"

"What about him?"

"Won't he be... there?" Arthur explained, which made Merlin look confused.

"What has that got to do with anything?"

"That is... I mean... He... The thing is..." Arthur struggled how to phrase it, and completely missed the look of pure mischief on Merlin's face until he burst out laughing.

"I was kidding." He said, still laughing. "Gaius went out to Ealdor to meet my mum and a couple of his friends today. He won't be back for a few days."

"Oh. Good." Arthur said, relieved. Belatedly realizing he should be offended he punched Merlin in the shoulder saying , "Asshole."

"Ow. That's domestic abuse you know."

"It was hardly even a punch you big baby."

"Prat."

They climbed into the lift, and once the doors closed there was sudden silence. Arthur didn't dare breathe too loudly, because he was afraid he would break the charged tension suddenly thick in the air, where there was only playful ribbing going on just moments ago. Somehow, just the fact that they were in the lift, going to Merlin's empty flat, made everything more real. More intense. His hands itched to just grab Merlin, shove him against the wall and kiss him breathless. Instead, he counted his breaths, _In and Out, In and out,_ trying to keep his composure.

It could hardly have been 10 seconds before the lift dinged on Merlin's floor, but it felt like an eternity. When the doors opened, Merlin let out a shaky breath, and mentally shook himself before looking at Arthur with understanding in his eyes.

"That was weird." He said, and Arthur couldn't trust his voice at the moment so he just nodded, and mutely followed Merlin into his apartment.

"Make yourself at home." He said nodding towards the couch, and threw the keys on the nearest table, "I am gonna get us beers."

With that he hastily walked into the kitchen; if Arthur didn't know better he would think Merlin was running away. As it is, he needed a moment to compose himself as well, so he sat down and took deep breaths.

He didn't know how long it was- although he was sure it was more than a couple of minutes- until he heard the water tap open, followed by a crash of a glass shattering to pieces. He jumped up and was into the kitchen on instinct, and freezed in the doorway.

Merlin is staring at the pieces of broken glass on the ground in shock, his face ashen. It looked like he wasn't even breathing. Then he darted a look at Arthur and quickly bent down and started picking up the shattered pieces. That calmed Arthur down, until he noticed Merlin's hands were shaking. Not knowing what to do, he stepped forward and crouched in front of Merlin and held one of his wrists, noticing that one of the shard had already nicked Merlin's finger and he hadn't even noticed it.

"Merlin." He said in a tone he reserved for talking to particularly spooked children.

The other man sighed in defeat, and stopped fussing with the broken pieces and looked up into Arthur's eyes. The brilliant blue of them held an apology, and guilt, and a healthy dose of embarrassment, but what alarmed Arthur was the fear in them. Hidden, but there.

"What's wrong?" Gently guiding him to stand up, he held Merlin's bleeding hand under the tap that was still open and flowing.

Merlin sighed again.

"I am not going to let it go. I need to know what spooked you?" Arthur said in a tone that brooked no arguments.

"I am not spooked." Merlin lied quietly, and Arthur just raised his eyebrow at him which made him huff out a laugh. "Okay yeah. I am spooked. I just haven't done this in a long time."

"You haven't had beers in a long time?" Lightening the mood felt like the best idea at the moment.

"You know what I mean." Exasperation and indignation colored Merlin's tone, making Arthur smile in triumph. Mission successful.

"We don't have to do anything." Arthur said earnestly. He didn't want Merlin to feel pressured, and he told him so.

"I know," his tone was very quiet, quieter than it had ever been before, " but I want to. God! I want to. That's what is scaring me."

"Me too." Arthur whispered, and then took the hand he was currently holding under water spray- it had stopped bleeding anyway- and held it up against his chest. "Listen, it's beating so fast. You aren't the only one who is scared. You aren't the only one who havent done this in a long time."

Merlin's hand on his chest felt like a searing brand, but his eyes was transfixed on Merlin's face, his pupils blown, his mouth open, and his breathing ragged.

"Oh," Merlin said eloquently.

Arthur couldn't help but smile tenderly at the bewilderment on the face in front of him, and he extended his other hand- the one not holding Merlin's hand on his chest- to brush away the fringe falling into Merlin's eyes.

Before his fingers could touch his face though, Merlin turned sharply, wrenching his fingers away from Arthur's grasp, and Arthur felt rejection sting, like someone had shoved a knife where his heart was supposed to be.

"Beers." Merlin said, his voice shaking, and he stepped towards the refrigerator. Before he could stop himself, Arthur is in Merlin's personal space again, and he placed one of his hand on refrigerator door, keeping it close, and effectively caging Merlin in between his arm, the fridge, and Arthur's body.

He bent a little so he could breathe directly in Merlin's ear when he said,

"Don't bother. Not why I am here. Not why you invited me here either." He relished the full body shiver that went through Merlin at the words, or the feeling of Arthur's breath against his ear, or the sheer proximity of him. Probably all of the above.

"You are allowed to change your mind _Merlin._ " Because that was important, he needed Merlin to know, and the way he whispered the name cause another shiver to go through him, "But you need to tell me if you have. I want this too much to be kept in suspense." He stopped here, and then rolled his hips forward a bit, touching Merlin for the first time, because even though he was right behind Merlin, caging him, he had kept his distance, and now he was sure Merlin could easily feel the truth of Arthur's statement because it would be impossible to mistake the hardness pressing into Merlin's backside as anything other than proof of Arthur's arousal.

"Want you too much." Arthur finished, and then bent his head and kissed Merlin's neck. Merlin moaned. It was a gloriously sinful sound, and Arthur could feel the last tatters of his control slipping away. But he needed to be sure.

"Do you want me to stop?" Arthur breathed against Merlin's neck, feeling like he would cry if Merlin said yes, but knowing that he would, without hesitation.

He could've wept when he felt Merlin shake his head, instead he concentrated on kissing Merlin's neck- softly, tenderly, going down the beautiful length slowly, centimeter by centimeter. Merlin's breathing was a ragged irregular thing by now, and Arthur's wasn't any better.

"Wanted to do this all day, ever since I saw you grinning in this ridiculous shirt. Could hardly keep my hands off of you. Christ! The things you do to me. The things you make me want to do to you." Arthur confessed in a groan. Now that he had started talking, he couldn't stop. It helped that Merlin wasn't looking at him. Confessing to his back was easier, especially when he could muffle his own desperate voice in Merlin's skin.

"But that's not quite right. I haven't just wanted to do this today. I have been wanting this for ages, ever since I first saw you and your beautiful gorgeous eyes." And with that he reached the junction of Merlin's neck and shoulder, and instead of kissing it tenderly like before, he bared his teeth and bit- albeit lightly- on the sensitive skin.

Merlin cried out.

The rest of Arthur's restraint collapsed- and there wasn't much to begin with, not where Merlin was concerned- and he held Merlin's shoulder and turned him around in a jerk, putting both of his hands on the refrigerator behind him, on side of Merlin's head, and looked hungrily at the man he had been in love with for months now.

He dragged his gaze up and down, and smirked at noticing that Merlin is as affected as him, his erection straining his pants, his chest heaving, his neck red like his cheeks and ears, his eyes full of lust. And his mouth. God! His mouth. It was raw and swollen, like Merlin had been biting his lip for the last few minutes, red.

 _Now that's just not fair_ , Arthur thought, and lunged forward to remedy it.

The kiss this time was nothing like all the other kisses they had shared till now. It was rough, battling for dominance,fast, and very very intense. Arthur wanted to bite those lips till they bled, till Merlin was gasping and couldn't breath anymore, and every time he grasped one of his lips between his teeth Merlin let out a whimper, a sound that went straight to Arthur's groin, so he did it again, and again, and again, until Merlin became bolder and tentatively ran his tongue over Arthur's lips, and then the kiss became a whole new level of dirty. Somewhere when Arthur wasn't paying attention-his whole world reduced to the feeling of lips on lips- Merlin's hands had come around Arthur's waist, and one of them into Arthur's hair, and he was clinging to him like Arthur was the only thing keeping him upright, which wasn't that far from the truth actually. He was sure if he let go Merlin's knees would give out.

 At a particularly delicious movement of Merlin's tongue in his mouth his hips snapped forward without his volition and he broke the kiss in a choked moan. The feeling of their erections rubbing together, even through the barrier of multiple levels of clothing, was exquisite. Arthur was sure he had never felt anything like this before.

He buried his face in Merlin's neck, and started leaving wet open mouthed kisses on his shoulder, as he rocked into Merlin, who was practically whimpering and whining now. Realising that the whining was trying to take form of words, he slowed down his movements and tried to pay attention.

"Ar- Arth- Arthur! Arthur!" Merlin was trying to say in broken whimpers.

"Yeah?" Arthur tried stopped his hips with an incredible force of will.

"Stop." And suddenly his hips stilled without any effort, his heart sinking that Merlin wanted it to end already."Don't want to come like this. I will, if you don't stop."

Relief flooded his mind, and he couldn't help chuckling, and moving his hips back to look at Merlin's face. He already looked wrecked... debauched was the word he would go with. It was a look that suited him immensely, Arthur decided, and vowed to make him look like this as often as he could.

Stealing one more kiss, hot and steamy, that became two, and then three, Merlin chasing after his lips every time he tried to disentangle, he moved back to clear his head a bit. Merlin was right: he didn't want it to end like this, and he was too close to the edge already.

So he grabbed Merlin's hand and led him towards his bedroom, remembering the way from the last time he had ended up sleeping in his bed without, you know _, sleeping_ with Merlin. Merlin seemed to remember that, because a smile was teasing at the corner of his lips as well as a mischievous glint in the eye, so Arthur glared at him- as much as he could with arousal clouding his every sense- and growled,

"Not a word."

In response, Merlin made a gesture of zipping his lips shut, making Arthur chuckle.

Once they were inside the room, Arthur didn't even bother closing the door, and instead just pushed the button down Merlin was wearing off his shoulders, and then snaked his hands down to the hem of Merlin's shirt, and in a jerk, took it off. The sight took his breath away for a few seconds.

"Beautiful." He whispered in a reverent tone, making Merlin blush.

He smoothed his hands down those shoulders to those arms, and then lightly trailed his fingers, barely touching, up Merlin's abdomen, pausing at his nipples to lightly graze them with his thumbs, delighting in the spasming muscles, the hitching of his breath, the helpless sounds coming out of his mouth. When his hands went to the back, touching that soft, soft skin, Merlin took advantage of the position and moved his hands to slowly opening buttons of Arthur's much more formal button down. And because he was evil, and loved driving Arthur completely out of his mind, he moved even closer to Arthur, and painstakingly kissed every inch of revealed skin with every opened button, taking his time. Arthur forgot about exploring Merlin's body, and just held his hips tightly, closing his eyes, trying and failing to keep the noises in, as Merlin gradually but thoroughly unravelled him, in every sense.

It was Merlin who navigated Arthur to the bed in the end, slowly pushing him to lie down flat, and taking off the rest of his clothes, starting with his shoes.Then he climbed on top of him, his body a delicious weight on Arthur's, his every movement causing Arthur to feel more and more hypersensitive, every kiss a torture, until he couldn't take it anymore and flipped them over, devouring Merlin in the same way.

They came together like two crashing waves that night, hard and unrelenting, clashing and fighting for dominance, yet giving way, and merging into each other... becoming one. It was hard and fast, and yet slow and sensual, it was rough yet loving, and they climbed up higher and higher, trying to stay coherent but in the end couldn't form any other word than each other's name, whispering it into each other's skin, moaning it into the air, crying it out, just breathless whimpers of _Arthur_ s and _Merlin_ s permeating the air over the sounds of their frantic lovemaking, higher and higher they climbed until Arthur was terrified that when he fell, he would shatter into a million pieces and lose himself, terrified he wouldn't survive it, but the only way was up and over, so that's where he went, and then crashed, with Merlin's name on his lips, and into his arms, and he held him tightly as they both fell together, anchoring each other.

When he could breathe again, he realized that his cheeks were wet, but he was too drained to even feel embarrassed about it. Rubbing away the tears, he collapsed on Merlin, and then realizing that he must be crushing him, pushed himself to a side and laid down with his head next to Merlin. Merlin it seems, was clingy in the afterglow-not that Arthur minded or anything- so he maneouvered himself until his cheek was on Arthur's chest, and his arm around his waist. Arthur tenderly put his hand on Merlin's hair, running his fingers through them, lightly petting.

They stayed like this for some time- neither of them could later figure out how long- just basking in each other's proximity, feeling content.

A really long time later- or it could've just been minutes- Merlin shifted, and started lazily making circles on Arthur's chest.

"Hey Arthur?" He tentatively broke the silence.

"Hmm...?" Making non committal sounds was the best Arthur could manage at the moment.

"You remember when I said you were kind of like me dealer?"

Arthur rummaged in his memory and remembered the time, long time ago, when he gave Merlin drugs for every minor illness, and was puzzled to hear Merlin mention it at this time.

"Yeah? " He answered, but it was more like a question.

"I want a new drug now. Need it more like. Everyday and for lifelong." There is a hint of humor in Merlin's tone, and Arthur was sure he wasn't saying this because he was sick, but because there was a bad pun coming.

"What is it?" Arthur humored him.

"You," was the smug reply, satisfaction dripping from a point well made.

Arthur wanted to smile at it, or make a smart retort, but he said the first thing that came into his mind- which in the hindsight wasn't such a great idea, considering his brain was completely fried from the best sex of his life.

He said, "You had me at Pratdragon," and then promptly wanted to kill himself.

There was a startled silence after his declaration, and for a blessed second Arthur thought Merlin might have dozed off, or he might just let it go,  but then the bed on his side started shaking, and he was horrified to realize it was because Merlin's shoulders were shaking, and he had turned his face so that it was hidden in the pillow, muffling his laughter. A moment later Merlin looked up at Arthur's mortified face and broke into fresh howls of laughter, clutching his stomach and rolling on his back, until his eyes teared up and his breath started coming in strangled gasps.

"Asshole,' Arthur muttered and then picked a pillow and half heartedly threw it at Merlin's head, which only increased Merlin's hilarity, and Arthur's lips twitched helplessly until he started laughing as well, because Merlin's laughter was contagious.

Every time they stopped, all they had to do was look at each other's face and the cycle would start once again until Merlin cried out that his stomach hurt, and that he had to stop.

Composing himself, and trying his best not to look at Merlin, Arthur turned on his side and laid down, shoulders still shuddering in effort to restrain laughter every few moments. A while later he felt Merlin's breath tickling his neck, and his arm around his waist, and a whispered, "Let's go to sleep," in his ears. He drifted off into a peaceful and content sleep before he could even protest at being the little spoon.

 _I could get used to it,_ was the last thought in his head, before sleep overwhelmed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh. I hope it wasn't too bad. Leave comments because seriously I am not lying when I say they are the best things about my day most days. They make me smile a lot.   
> Just an epilogue left now... will be up by the end of this week hopefully. Thank you for sticking by this story. I love you guys.


	14. Epilogue.

"Can I examine your ear now Olivia?"

Arthur was sitting in his Private Clinic, one he had just opened some six months back. He was realizing that he should have separated from his father a long time ago, as soon as he was done with his fellowships, but he had been too focused on things like loyalty and family, rather than his own ethics as a doctor. His father was a good doctor, a good man even, but his brain registered patients as customers, as people who are paying and receiving a service in return,and the more they pay, the better service they got. This was something Arthur could not stomach anymore, and it had been slowly killing him inside, making him hate his profession.

All he had ever wanted to do was help people.

Merlin was the reason he finally gathered enough courage to go to his father and tell him that he quit. He had slowly and gradually, like water shapes stone to its wishes, moulded Arthur, and made him realize that he was miserable for no reason at all. He had made him see that the only thing keeping him from being the kind of doctor he wanted to be was his own stubbornness, and that was the day he left Camelot International for good. His boyfriend was still upset with him that he had not snapped a picture of Uther's face when he handed over his resignation.

It hadn't been easy, starting a private practice. The sheer amount of paperwork he had to deal with was staggering, and he was continuously plagued with self doubt that nobody would want to come to him... that he was nothing without his father's support. And then one day Lance contacted him. Lance Du Lac Had attended the same med school as him, they both took up Pediatrics as specialty and even though they couldn't call each other friends, they had both appreciated each other's professional ethics when they were students, as well as when they went their separate ways after Arthur joined Camelot International, and Lance joined Mercia.

Lance asked him if the rumors of him starting a practice were true, and when he replied in affirmative, he asked if he was interested in a group practice instead. Arthur readily agreed.

So here they were, six months later, settled into a new routine. Theirs was a small clinic, with two outpatient examination rooms, one for Arthur and one for Lance,  a small ward with 6 beds, and a competent nursing staff. Arthur was in love with it nearly as much as he was in love with Merlin.

Right now, he was dealing with a 3 year old girl, Olivia, who had presented with ear ache for the last few days. She was a cute little thing, fair with brown hair tied in two ponytails swinging on her sides, and large brown eyes. When Arthur asked her if he could examine her ear her eyes grew wide and she looked at him in apprehension.

"You aren't going to use a magic wand in my ear, are you?" She asked suspiciously.

"What? Of Course not. Look... I have no magic wands." Arthur showed her both of his empty palms, wondering if that was the right answer- with children, you could never be sure.

As if on cue, Olivia started sniffling, and then let out a wail, and turned towards her Mom, crying, "I want magic in my ear Mommy." There were honest to God tears falling down her cheeks, and Arthur was flabbergasted for a few seconds until he finally realized what was wrong.

Reaching forward, he opened his desk drawer and took out an Otoscope. He needed to use it anyway, but he tried to keep the instruments hidden in order to not spook out the children. In this case, apparently that was the wrong call. Olivia had quietened down when she saw the otoscope, so Arthur felt confident it was the right path when he said,

"I was just kidding, see? I do have a magic wand. So, do you want me to put magic in your ear?" he questioned, and the little girl nodded empathically, rubbing away the tears hastily, and scooted forward on her stool towards Arthur.

Damn. Arthur really did love his job.

After they left,  it was 5 in the evening, and almost time for Arthur to wrap everything up. A knock on the door made him look up, and he wasn't surprised to see Lance leaning on the door frame.

"About to leave?" He asked, and continued when Arthur nodded, " Want to go for coffee? I know an excellent place."

Arthur doubted that any place could be better than Albion, but he needed coffee, and Merlin still had 3 more hours  of his shift left, so he decided to enjoy Lance's company in the meantime.

As they were walking on the street, Arthur pondered over how much his life had changed in the last year since he had started dating Merlin. They lived together now, and his house no longer felt like a dreaded place to him. It was the place he felt most comfortable, most himself, with Merlin by his side and all the world's demons outside the closed doors. He had his own practice now, and loved treating patients the way he wanted. Happy... that's what he was. Happier than he had ever been before.

"Thinking about your boyfriend Arthur?" Lance's teasing voice shook him out of his reverie.

"Yes." Arthur felt no shame in admitting the truth, making Lance laugh.

"You have no shame at all do you?"

"Nope."

He liked to think he made Merlin's life happier too. He had graduated from university, and had applied for a PhD programme in Children's Literature. Meanwhile he had taken up a teaching job in an elementary school, and the kids- unsurprisingly- loved him. He had continued coming to the ward in Camelot international every saturday to read kids stories, and now continued doing so in their private clinic too. In addition to that he had taken up reading to his students once a week as well, and Arthur made sure he was present at every reading, because every now and then, Merlin would read them a story he had made up himself, and Arthur would later make Merlin write it down, much to his embarrassment and constant fussing. They had quite a collection by now, and Arthur was wondering how he would be able to convince Merlin to try to get them published. He was adorably insecure and embarrassed by his stories, but Arthur knew they were beautiful, and the world deserved to read them.

Merlin still worked at Albion 3 or 4 times a week, no matter how busy the rest of his life got. " _She would miss_ me," was his reply whenever Arthur told him he could just get a manager or something, and it always left him too alarmed over the fact that Merlin had given the shop a gender, and was caressing its walls when talking about it, to think of an appropriate reply in time.

Arthur and Lance discussed their patients, and what changes they needed to make to make the Clinic's work environment more efficient, and Arthur didn't even realize they had been heading in the direction of Albion.

Of course.

Lance had said he was taking him to an excellent coffee shop, and Albion was pretty much the best coffee shop to exist in the city, if not the world- but then Arthur couldn't completely deny the fact that he was biased.

Grinning, he quickened the steps, and as they neared Lance started talking about it.

"I found it by accident, it's like one minute it wasn't even there, and the other minute it suddenly appeared because I was wishing for good coffee so much. It's a blessing and a curse in disguise because now I really don't feel like drinking any other coffee. Ever. The people here are very nice too, and the environment is... _magical_ is the only word I can think of."

Lance had a slight blush on his face after the rant, which Arthur attributed to the fact that he was embarrassed by his excitement. They stopped in front of the door, and as was his habit, Arthur checked himself out in the windows, looking for any strange stains, and running a hand through his hair... fluffing them up.

He froze up when he noticed that Lance was doing the exact same thing next to him, setting his hair, smoothing out wrinkles through his shirt... making himself presentable. Noticing the scrutiny, Lance looked towards him while adjusting his collar. Smiling sheepishly he admitted,

"I have a thing for the barista."

 _Me too_ , Arthur almost replied, but no words left his mouth, as he was gripped with intense jealousy. He took a couple of deep breath and told himself firmly that Merlin loved _him_ , and was _his,_ and there was no reason to be jealous of Lance's one sided crush, and instead he should feel sorry for him. Sternly reprimanding himself, he pushed open the door and stepped inside.

Merlin looked up, and his smile could've brightened up the darkest of nights. He was clearly not expecting Arthur, and was delighted to see him. Arthur walked up to him, letting all the day's exhaustion, every worry leave his mind, just soaking up Merlin and his addictive joy.

"So, you couldn't stay away from your coffee anymore could you? Missed it too much?" Merlin's voice was full of playful teasing today.

"What can I say, no other place makes coffee quite like Albion, even though the staff here leaves a lot to be desired." Arthur put on the haughtiest tone he could manage, and received a slap to his shoulder in response.

"Prat! I am going to withhold coffee from you for this. But I am sure your friend here needs coffee, so what will he have." Merlin looked over his shoulder, which abruptly made him realize that Lance was with him. Lance... who apparently had a crush on Merlin.

When he looked at Lance, he was looking at Merlin with his eyes wide, and was in a confused daze. Before Arthur could smack him or something, Merlin asked in a loud voice,

"What will you have Sir?"

"You are not Gwen." Lance stated, his voice full of extreme confusion.

Merlin's eyes snapped back to Arthur's, who was standing open mouthed, the shock of the deja vu making him temporarily speechless.

"Yeah? What gave it away? " Merlin asked Lance, while looking right at Arthur, and then burst out laughing, and when Arthur looked at Lance's confused face, he couldn't help breaking down in his owl peals of laughter either.

"Sorry," Arthur said after a few minutes, gasping for breath. "But that line has been used before. Not saying it didn't work, but it's old. You got to try something new."

"But- but- Gwen?" Lance said, having completely lost the track of the conversation.

"Gwen works here in the morning. I will leave a good word for you later. Now, stop lingering here, I have a job to do. Go grab a table or something, both of you, I will come over with coffee in a bit." Merlin, having overcome his laughter, shooed them away from the table.

"But I haven't ordered anything." Lance said, while he was being led to Arthur's favorite spot.

"You never need to. Not with Merlin." Arthur said fondly.

"So, that was Merlin." Lance said, in awe, a while later after settling down.

"Yeah," pride crept into his voice when he said "he is something isn't he?"

"Oh yeah." Lance agreed. "If I was into guys, I would've given you a competition."

"Tough luck. But to be honest, if I was into girls, I would've stolen Gwen away a long time ago, considering I met her years before you did. Nice choice."

"Oi."Lance protested, and then softened up when he thought of Gwen, "She is beautiful."

"Yeah, yeah she is." Arthur agreed, and that was when Merlin came over with their drinks.

"Because I am a great boyfriend, here is two caramel lattes, even though someone who insults their boyfriend don't deserve coffee at all." Merlin said magnanimously, putting two coffee mugs in front of them, along with tissue papers. He kissed Arthur on his cheek , and Arthur did not even attempt to conceal the absolutely besotted smile that had to be plastered on his face. With Merlin around, he never could help the heart eyes.

"You guys are disgusting."Lance decreed.

"We know." They both said in unison, and Merlin winked at Arthur before turning around and going back to the counter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it ends. This fic took me far longer to write than i thought it would. But it was fun, and I am so so grateful to everyone who encouraged me and kept commenting, which helped me not give up. NOW I can finally sit down and study, which I have been delaying for so long :D.


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